diff --git a/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FlatteningTemplateLoaderTest.java b/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FlatteningTemplateLoaderTest.java
index c47046e73..59d1f9eba 100644
--- a/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FlatteningTemplateLoaderTest.java
+++ b/webapp/test/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/freemarker/FlatteningTemplateLoaderTest.java
@@ -2,13 +2,13 @@
 
 package edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.freemarker;
 
-import static org.junit.Assert.*;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertEquals;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
+import static org.junit.Assert.assertTrue;
 
 import java.io.File;
-import java.io.FileWriter;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.Reader;
-import java.io.Writer;
 import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
 
 import org.junit.AfterClass;
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ public class FlatteningTemplateLoaderTest extends AbstractTestClass {
 	private static final String TEMPLATE_NAME_LOWER = "another.ftl";
 	private static final String TEMPLATE_LOWER_CONTENTS = "Another template file.";
 
-	private static long setupTime;
 	private static File tempDir;
 	private static File notADirectory;
 	private static File upperTemplate;
@@ -65,8 +64,6 @@ public class FlatteningTemplateLoaderTest extends AbstractTestClass {
 
 	@BeforeClass
 	public static void setUpFiles() throws IOException {
-		setupTime = System.currentTimeMillis();
-
 		notADirectory = File.createTempFile(
 				FlatteningTemplateLoader.class.getSimpleName(), "");
 
@@ -150,20 +147,21 @@ public class FlatteningTemplateLoaderTest extends AbstractTestClass {
 	}
 
 	/**
-	 * We may not know exactly when the file was last modified, but it should
-	 * fall into a known range.
+	 * Some systems only record last-modified times to the nearest second, so we
+	 * can't rely on them changing during the course of the test. Force the
+	 * change, and test for it.
 	 */
 	@Test
-	public void lastModified() throws IOException {
+	public void teplateLastModified() throws IOException {
 		Object source = loader.findTemplateSource(TEMPLATE_NAME_UPPER);
 		long modified = loader.getLastModified(source);
-		long firstBoundary = System.currentTimeMillis();
-		assertInRange("created", setupTime, firstBoundary, modified);
+		long now = System.currentTimeMillis();
+		assertTrue("near to now: modified=" + formatTimeStamp(modified)
+				+ ", now=" + formatTimeStamp(now),
+				2000 > Math.abs(modified - now));
 
-		rewriteFile(upperTemplate, TEMPLATE_UPPER_CONTENTS);
-		long secondBoundary = System.currentTimeMillis();
-		modified = loader.getLastModified(source);
-		assertInRange("modified", firstBoundary, secondBoundary, modified);
+		upperTemplate.setLastModified(5000);
+		assertEquals("modified modified", 5000, loader.getLastModified(source));
 	}
 
 	@Test
@@ -176,43 +174,6 @@ public class FlatteningTemplateLoaderTest extends AbstractTestClass {
 	// helper methods
 	// ----------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-	/**
-	 * Fill an existing file with new contents.
-	 */
-	private void rewriteFile(File file, String contents) throws IOException {
-		Writer writer = null;
-		try {
-			writer = new FileWriter(file);
-			writer.write(contents);
-		} finally {
-			if (writer != null) {
-				try {
-					writer.close();
-				} catch (IOException e) {
-					e.printStackTrace();
-				}
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	/**
-	 * Assert that the modified time falls between (or on) the two boundary
-	 * times.
-	 */
-	private void assertInRange(String message, long lowerBound,
-			long upperBound, long modified) {
-		if (modified < lowerBound) {
-			fail(message + ": " + formatTimeStamp(modified)
-					+ " is less than the lower bound "
-					+ formatTimeStamp(lowerBound));
-		}
-		if (modified > upperBound) {
-			fail(message + ": " + formatTimeStamp(modified)
-					+ " is greater than the upper bound "
-					+ formatTimeStamp(upperBound));
-		}
-	}
-
 	private String formatTimeStamp(long time) {
 		SimpleDateFormat formatter = new SimpleDateFormat(
 				"yyyy-MM-dd HH:mm:ss.SSS");