diff --git a/locate/install.go b/locate/install.go
index 422c3e8de..1c1807cce 100644
--- a/locate/install.go
+++ b/locate/install.go
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@ import (
 )
 
 func (po *LocateOptions) installGenericFlags(flags *flag.FlagSet) {
-	flags.Var(NewTimeFlag(&po.Filters.Before), "before", "filter by date")
-	flags.Var(NewTimeFlag(&po.Filters.Since), "since", "filter by date")
+	flags.Var(NewDurationFlag(&po.Filters.Before), "before", "filter by date")
+	flags.Var(NewDurationFlag(&po.Filters.Since), "since", "filter by date")
 
 	flags.StringVar(&po.Filters.Name, "name", "", "filter by name")
 	flags.StringVar(&po.Filters.Category, "category", "", "filter by category")
diff --git a/locate/locate.go b/locate/locate.go
index af8b3994c..0a9e50bd5 100644
--- a/locate/locate.go
+++ b/locate/locate.go
@@ -126,8 +126,8 @@ func (lp *LocatePeriod) Empty() bool {
 }
 
 type LocateFilters struct {
-	Before time.Time `json:"before,omitempty" yaml:"before,omitempty"`
-	Since  time.Time `json:"since,omitempty" yaml:"since,omitempty"`
+	Before time.Duration `json:"before,omitempty" yaml:"before,omitempty"`
+	Since  time.Duration `json:"since,omitempty" yaml:"since,omitempty"`
 
 	Name        string   `json:"name,omitempty" yaml:"name,omitempty"`
 	Category    string   `json:"category,omitempty" yaml:"category,omitempty"`
@@ -215,10 +215,10 @@ func WithPerFridayCap(n int) Option   { return func(p *LocateOptions) { p.Period
 func WithPerSaturdayCap(n int) Option { return func(p *LocateOptions) { p.Periods.Saturday.Cap = n } }
 func WithPerSundaysCap(n int) Option  { return func(p *LocateOptions) { p.Periods.Sunday.Cap = n } }
 
-func WithBefore(t time.Time) Option {
+func WithBefore(t time.Duration) Option {
 	return func(p *LocateOptions) { p.Filters.Before = t }
 }
-func WithSince(t time.Time) Option {
+func WithSince(t time.Duration) Option {
 	return func(p *LocateOptions) { p.Filters.Since = t }
 }
 func WithName(name string) Option {
@@ -261,11 +261,13 @@ func (lo *LocateOptions) Matches(it Item) bool {
 		}
 	}
 
+	now := time.Now()
+
 	// time window
-	if !lo.Filters.Before.IsZero() && it.Timestamp.After(lo.Filters.Before.UTC()) {
+	if lo.Filters.Before != 0 && it.Timestamp.After(now.Add(-lo.Filters.Before).UTC()) {
 		return false
 	}
-	if !lo.Filters.Since.IsZero() && it.Timestamp.Before(lo.Filters.Since.UTC()) {
+	if lo.Filters.Since != 0 && it.Timestamp.Before(now.Add(-lo.Filters.Since).UTC()) {
 		return false
 	}
 
@@ -454,5 +456,5 @@ func (lo *LocateOptions) Empty() bool {
 		lo.Filters.Name == "" && lo.Filters.Category == "" && lo.Filters.Environment == "" &&
 		lo.Filters.Perimeter == "" && lo.Filters.Job == "" &&
 		len(lo.Filters.Tags) == 0 && len(lo.Filters.IDs) == 0 && len(lo.Filters.Roots) == 0 &&
-		lo.Filters.Before.IsZero() && lo.Filters.Since.IsZero() && !lo.Filters.Latest
+		lo.Filters.Before == 0 && lo.Filters.Since == 0 && !lo.Filters.Latest
 }
diff --git a/locate/time.go b/locate/time.go
index 39fb8c62d..a69f73bb2 100644
--- a/locate/time.go
+++ b/locate/time.go
@@ -80,3 +80,44 @@ func ParseTimeFlag(input string) (time.Time, error) {
 
 	return time.Time{}, fmt.Errorf("invalid time format: %q", input)
 }
+
+// DurationFlag implements flag.Value interface
+type DurationFlag struct {
+	dest *time.Duration
+}
+
+func NewDurationFlag(dest *time.Duration) *DurationFlag {
+	return &DurationFlag{dest}
+}
+
+func (t *DurationFlag) String() string {
+	if t.dest == nil || *t.dest == 0 {
+		return ""
+	}
+	return t.dest.String()
+}
+
+func (t *DurationFlag) Set(s string) error {
+	parsed, err := ParseDurationFlag(s)
+	if err != nil {
+		return err
+	}
+	*t.dest = parsed
+	return nil
+}
+
+func ParseDurationFlag(input string) (time.Duration, error) {
+	if strings.TrimSpace(input) != input {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid time format: %q", input)
+	}
+
+	if input == "" {
+		return 0, nil
+	}
+
+	d, err := human2duration.ParseDuration(input)
+	if err != nil {
+		return 0, fmt.Errorf("invalid duration %q: %w", input, err)
+	}
+	return d, err
+}