diff --git a/build.sbt b/build.sbt
index 7c05621..4729d29 100644
--- a/build.sbt
+++ b/build.sbt
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ resolvers += "Maven Central Server" at "http://repo1.maven.org/maven2"
 val commonSettings = sonatypeSettings ++ Seq(
   organization := "org.zalando.reactivenakadi",
   startYear := Some(2016),
-  scalaVersion := "2.11.7",
+  scalaVersion := "2.11.8",
   test in assembly := {},
   licenses := Seq("MIT license" -> url("https://opensource.org/licenses/MIT")),
   homepage := Some(url("https://github.com/zalando/reactive-nakadi")),
@@ -28,7 +28,6 @@ val commonSettings = sonatypeSettings ++ Seq(
 )
 
 libraryDependencies ++= Seq(
-  "joda-time" % "joda-time" % "2.3",
   "commons-logging" % "commons-logging" % "1.1.1",
   "com.typesafe.play" %% "play-json" % "2.5.4",
   "com.typesafe.akka" %% "akka-slf4j" % akkaVersion,
@@ -36,7 +35,7 @@ libraryDependencies ++= Seq(
   "com.typesafe.akka" %% "akka-stream" % akkaVersion,
   "com.typesafe.akka" %% "akka-http-core" % akkaVersion,
   "com.amazonaws" % "aws-java-sdk-dynamodb" % "1.10.60",
-  "org.scalatest" %% "scalatest" % "2.2.4" % "test",
+  "org.scalatest" %% "scalatest" % "2.2.6" % "test",
   "org.scalamock" %% "scalamock-scalatest-support" % "3.2" % "test, it",
   "com.typesafe.akka" %% "akka-stream-testkit" % akkaVersion % "test, it"
 )
diff --git a/src/it/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/InMemoryCommitCommitManager.scala b/src/it/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/InMemoryCommitCommitManager.scala
index b34be65..f8b434a 100644
--- a/src/it/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/InMemoryCommitCommitManager.scala
+++ b/src/it/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/InMemoryCommitCommitManager.scala
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi
 
+import java.time.{ZoneId, ZonedDateTime}
+
 import org.zalando.react.nakadi.commit.OffsetTracking
 import org.zalando.react.nakadi.commit.handlers.BaseCommitManager
-import org.joda.time.{DateTime, DateTimeZone}
 
 import scala.concurrent.Future
 
@@ -21,7 +22,7 @@ object InMemoryCommitCommitManager extends BaseCommitManager {
       checkpointId = value.split("-")(0),
       leaseHolder = value.split("-")(1),
       leaseCounter = Option(1),
-      leaseTimestamp = new DateTime(DateTimeZone.UTC),
+      leaseTimestamp =ZonedDateTime.now,
       leaseId = None
     )
   }
@@ -35,7 +36,7 @@ object InMemoryCommitCommitManager extends BaseCommitManager {
       checkpointId = value.split("-")(0),
       leaseHolder = value.split("-")(1),
       leaseCounter = Option(leaseCounter),
-      leaseTimestamp = new DateTime(DateTimeZone.UTC),
+      leaseTimestamp = ZonedDateTime.now,
       leaseId = None
     )
     store.put(key, generateValue(offset.checkpointId, offset.leaseHolder, count))
@@ -57,10 +58,10 @@ object InMemoryCommitCommitManager extends BaseCommitManager {
           checkpointId = value.split("-")(0),
           leaseHolder = value.split("-")(1),
           leaseCounter = Option(1),
-          leaseTimestamp = new DateTime(DateTimeZone.UTC),
+          leaseTimestamp = ZonedDateTime.now,
           leaseId = None
         )
       }
     }
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/src/it/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/ReactiveNakadiSubscriberSpec.scala b/src/it/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/ReactiveNakadiSubscriberSpec.scala
index 14fd473..e701872 100644
--- a/src/it/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/ReactiveNakadiSubscriberSpec.scala
+++ b/src/it/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/ReactiveNakadiSubscriberSpec.scala
@@ -1,15 +1,14 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi
 
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime
 import java.util.UUID
 
 import akka.actor.ActorSystem
 import akka.stream.testkit.scaladsl.TestSource
 import akka.stream.scaladsl.{Flow, Keep, Sink, Source}
-import org.joda.time.DateTime
 import play.api.libs.json.Json
-
 import org.zalando.react.nakadi.client.models._
-import org.zalando.react.nakadi.NakadiMessages.{Cursor, Offset, ProducerMessage, ConsumerMessage}
+import org.zalando.react.nakadi.NakadiMessages.{ConsumerMessage, Cursor, Offset, ProducerMessage}
 
 import scala.concurrent.Await
 import scala.concurrent.duration._
@@ -28,7 +27,7 @@ class ReactiveNakadiSubscriberSpec extends NakadiTest {
       data = Json.parse(s"""{"foo": "bar"}""").as[EventPayload],
       EventMetadata(
         eid = UUID.randomUUID().toString,
-        occurred_at = new DateTime(),
+        occurred_at = ZonedDateTime.now,
         flow_id = Option("my-test-flow-id")
       )
     )
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/LeaseManager.scala b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/LeaseManager.scala
index e7706eb..0fe3344 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/LeaseManager.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/LeaseManager.scala
@@ -1,9 +1,9 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi
 
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime
+
 import akka.event.LoggingAdapter
 import akka.actor.{ActorRef, ActorSystem}
-import org.joda.time.{DateTime, DateTimeZone}
-
 import org.zalando.react.nakadi.utils.IdGenerator
 import org.zalando.react.nakadi.properties.ConsumerProperties
 import org.zalando.react.nakadi.commit.handlers.{BaseCommitManager => BaseCommitHandler}
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ class LeaseManagerImpl(override val leaseHolder: String,
                        log: Option[LoggingAdapter],
                        idGenerator: IdGenerator = IdGenerator) extends LeaseManager {
 
-  def now = new DateTime(DateTimeZone.UTC)
-  def newLeaseTimeout = now.plusSeconds(staleLeaseDelta.length.toInt)
+  def now = ZonedDateTime.now
+  def newLeaseTimeout = now.plusSeconds(staleLeaseDelta.length)
 
   // Key / value for partition id and lease counter
   override val counter: mutable.Map[String, Long] = mutable.Map.empty
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ class LeaseManagerImpl(override val leaseHolder: String,
 
   def validate(currentOffset: OffsetTracking): Boolean = {
     val count = counter.getOrElse(currentOffset.partitionId, 0L)
-    currentOffset.leaseCounter.contains(count) || currentOffset.leaseTimestamp.isBeforeNow
+    currentOffset.leaseCounter.contains(count) || currentOffset.leaseTimestamp.isBefore(now)
   }
 
   override def requestLease(groupId: String, eventType: String, partitionId: String)
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/JsonOps.scala b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/JsonOps.scala
index f997829..281e12b 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/JsonOps.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/JsonOps.scala
@@ -1,20 +1,20 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi.client.models
 
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime
+import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
+
 import play.api.libs.json._
 import play.api.libs.functional.syntax._
 import play.api.data.validation.ValidationError
 
-import org.joda.time.{DateTimeZone, DateTime}
-import org.joda.time.format.ISODateTimeFormat
-
 import scala.util.control.Exception.nonFatalCatch
 
 
 object JsonOps {
 
-  implicit val jodaDateTimeReads = Reads[DateTime] {
+  implicit val zonedDateTimeReads = Reads[ZonedDateTime] {
     _.validate[String].flatMap { dateStr =>
-      nonFatalCatch.either(new DateTime(dateStr, DateTimeZone.UTC)).fold(
+      nonFatalCatch.either(ZonedDateTime.parse(dateStr)).fold(
         ex => JsError(Seq(JsPath() -> Seq(ValidationError(ex.getMessage)))),
         JsSuccess(_)
       )
@@ -24,8 +24,8 @@ object JsonOps {
   implicit val readsMetaData: Reads[EventMetadata] = (
     (__ \ "eid").read[String] and
     (__ \ "event_type").readNullable[String] and
-    (__ \ "occurred_at").read[DateTime] and
-    (__ \ "received_at").readNullable[DateTime] and
+    (__ \ "occurred_at").read[ZonedDateTime] and
+    (__ \ "received_at").readNullable[ZonedDateTime] and
     (__ \ "parent_eids").readNullable[Seq[String]] and
     (__ \ "flow_id").readNullable[String]
   )(EventMetadata)
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ object JsonOps {
   implicit val writesMetaData: Writes[EventMetadata] = (
     (__ \ "eid").write[String] and
     (__ \ "event_type").writeNullable[String] and
-    (__ \ "occurred_at").write[String].contramap[DateTime](ISODateTimeFormat.dateTime().print) and
-    (__ \ "received_at").writeNullable[String].contramap[Option[DateTime]](_.map(ISODateTimeFormat.dateTime().print)) and
+    (__ \ "occurred_at").write[String].contramap[ZonedDateTime](_.format(DateTimeFormatter.ISO_OFFSET_DATE_TIME)) and
+    (__ \ "received_at").writeNullable[String].contramap[Option[ZonedDateTime]](_.map(_.format(DateTimeFormatter.ISO_OFFSET_DATE_TIME))) and
     (__ \ "parent_eids").writeNullable[Seq[String]] and
     (__ \ "flow_id").writeNullable[String]
   )(unlift(EventMetadata.unapply))
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/Models.scala b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/Models.scala
index c9e96ec..d8e5714 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/Models.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/Models.scala
@@ -1,13 +1,12 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi.client.models
 
-import org.joda.time.DateTime
-
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime
 
 case class EventMetadata(
   eid: String,
   event_type: Option[String] = None,
-  occurred_at: DateTime,
-  received_at: Option[DateTime] = None,
+  occurred_at: ZonedDateTime,
+  received_at: Option[ZonedDateTime] = None,
   parent_eids: Option[Seq[String]] = None,
   flow_id: Option[String] = None
 )
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/OffsetTracking.scala b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/OffsetTracking.scala
index 9ef297d..d97aa89 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/OffsetTracking.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/OffsetTracking.scala
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi.commit
 
-import org.joda.time.DateTime
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime
 
 case class OffsetTracking(
   partitionId: String,
   checkpointId: String,
   leaseHolder: String,
-  leaseTimestamp: DateTime,
+  leaseTimestamp: ZonedDateTime,
   leaseCounter: Option[Long] = None,
   leaseId: Option[String] = None
 )
diff --git a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/handlers/aws/DynamoDBCommitManager.scala b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/handlers/aws/DynamoDBCommitManager.scala
index 602b9e2..a2190a8 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/handlers/aws/DynamoDBCommitManager.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/handlers/aws/DynamoDBCommitManager.scala
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi.commit.handlers.aws
 
+import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
+import java.time.{ZoneId, ZoneOffset, ZonedDateTime}
+
 import akka.actor.ActorSystem
 import org.zalando.react.nakadi.commit.OffsetTracking
 import org.zalando.react.nakadi.commit.handlers.BaseCommitManager
@@ -8,7 +11,6 @@ import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.document.{Item, Table}
 import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.document.utils.ValueMap
 import com.amazonaws.services.dynamodbv2.document.spec.UpdateItemSpec
 import org.zalando.react.nakadi.properties.CommitProperties
-import org.joda.time.{DateTime, DateTimeZone}
 
 import scala.concurrent.Future
 import scala.collection.JavaConverters._
@@ -66,7 +68,7 @@ class DynamoDBCommitManager(system: ActorSystem, leaseProperties: CommitProperti
     val valueMap = new ValueMap()
       .withString(":cidval", offsetTracking.checkpointId)
       .withString(":lhval", offsetTracking.leaseHolder)
-      .withString(":ltsval", offsetTracking.leaseTimestamp.toDateTime.toString)
+      .withString(":ltsval", offsetTracking.leaseTimestamp.format(DateTimeFormatter.ISO_OFFSET_DATE_TIME))
 
     var leaseIdKey = ""
     offsetTracking.leaseId.foreach { leaseId =>
@@ -107,7 +109,7 @@ class DynamoDBCommitManager(system: ActorSystem, leaseProperties: CommitProperti
       .withString(CheckpointIdKey, offsetTracking.checkpointId)
       .withString(LeaseHolderKey, offsetTracking.leaseHolder)
       .withNumber(LeaseCounterKey, 1)
-      .withString(LeaseTimestampKey, offsetTracking.leaseTimestamp.toDateTime.toString)
+      .withString(LeaseTimestampKey, offsetTracking.leaseTimestamp.format(DateTimeFormatter.ISO_OFFSET_DATE_TIME))
     offsetTracking.leaseId.map(item.withString(LeaseIdKey, _))
     table.putItem(item)
     toOffsetTracking(item)
@@ -140,7 +142,7 @@ class DynamoDBCommitManager(system: ActorSystem, leaseProperties: CommitProperti
       checkpointId = item.getString(CheckpointIdKey),
       leaseHolder = item.getString(LeaseHolderKey),
       leaseCounter = Option(item.getLong(LeaseCounterKey)),
-      leaseTimestamp = new DateTime(item.getString(LeaseTimestampKey), DateTimeZone.UTC),
+      leaseTimestamp = ZonedDateTime.parse(item.getString(LeaseTimestampKey), DateTimeFormatter.ISO_OFFSET_DATE_TIME),
       leaseId = Option(item.getString(LeaseIdKey))
     )
   }
diff --git a/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/LeaseManagerSpec.scala b/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/LeaseManagerSpec.scala
index 4f30dc7..fe0266a 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/LeaseManagerSpec.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/LeaseManagerSpec.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi
 
-import org.joda.time.{DateTime, DateTimeZone}
+import java.time.ZonedDateTime
+
 import org.scalamock.scalatest.MockFactory
 import org.scalatest.concurrent.ScalaFutures
 import org.scalatest.{FlatSpec, Matchers}
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@ class LeaseManagerSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers with MockFactory with Scal
   val partitionId = "15"
   val groupId = "some-group-id"
   val eventType = "some-event-type"
-  val timestamp = new DateTime(DateTimeZone.UTC)
+  val timestamp = ZonedDateTime.now
 
   // Map of event-type-partition to offset count
   val offsetMap = OffsetMap(Map(EventTypePartition(eventType, partitionId).hash -> 10))
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ class LeaseManagerSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers with MockFactory with Scal
   it should "return true for valid validation condition" in {
     setupIdGenerator
 
-    val offset = offsetTracking.copy(leaseCounter = Option(2), leaseTimestamp = now.minus(400))
+    val offset = offsetTracking.copy(leaseCounter = Option(2), leaseTimestamp = now.minusSeconds(400))
 
     val leaseManager = createLeaseManager
     leaseManager.counter(partitionId) = 2
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ class LeaseManagerSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers with MockFactory with Scal
   it should "return true for validation if lease time stamp is after now but counter is the same" in {
     setupIdGenerator
 
-    val offset = offsetTracking.copy(leaseCounter = Option(2), leaseTimestamp = now.plus(400))
+    val offset = offsetTracking.copy(leaseCounter = Option(2), leaseTimestamp = now.plusSeconds(400))
 
     val leaseManager = createLeaseManager
     leaseManager.counter(partitionId) = 2
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ class LeaseManagerSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers with MockFactory with Scal
   it should "return true for validation if time is before now, but counter differ (i.e. stale lease)" in {
     setupIdGenerator
 
-    val offset = offsetTracking.copy(leaseCounter = Option(2), leaseTimestamp = now.minus(400))
+    val offset = offsetTracking.copy(leaseCounter = Option(2), leaseTimestamp = now.minusSeconds(400))
 
     val leaseManager = createLeaseManager
     leaseManager.counter(partitionId) = 5
@@ -140,12 +141,12 @@ class LeaseManagerSpec extends FlatSpec with Matchers with MockFactory with Scal
   it should "return false for validation if lease counters dont match lease time stamp is after now" in {
     setupIdGenerator
 
-    val offset = offsetTracking.copy(leaseCounter = Option(2), leaseTimestamp = now.plus(400))
+    val offset = offsetTracking.copy(leaseCounter = Option(2), leaseTimestamp = now.plusSeconds(400))
 
     val leaseManager = createLeaseManager
     leaseManager.counter(partitionId) = 5
     leaseManager.validate(offset) should === (false)
   }
 
-  private def now = new DateTime(DateTimeZone.UTC)
+  private def now = ZonedDateTime.now
 }
diff --git a/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/JsonOpsSpec.scala b/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/JsonOpsSpec.scala
index 8fa6028..ebe1be9 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/JsonOpsSpec.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/client/models/JsonOpsSpec.scala
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi.client.models
 
-import org.joda.time.DateTime
 import org.scalatest.{Matchers, WordSpec}
-import play.api.libs.json.{JsObject, JsString, JsValue, Json}
+import play.api.libs.json.{JsObject, JsString, Json}
 
 
 class JsonOpsSpec extends WordSpec with Matchers {
@@ -15,7 +14,7 @@ class JsonOpsSpec extends WordSpec with Matchers {
       |{
       |  "metadata": {
       |    "eid": "7b7c7100-0559-11e6-a837-0800200c9a66",
-      |    "occurred_at": "2016-04-01T13:42:16.000Z",
+      |    "occurred_at": "2016-04-01T13:42:16Z",
       |    "event_type": "order-created"
       |  },
       |  "id": "504c91de-17c9-46d8-81ee-55135084d696"
@@ -30,7 +29,7 @@ class JsonOpsSpec extends WordSpec with Matchers {
       |  "data": {"some": "payload"},
       |  "metadata": {
       |    "eid": "7b7c7100-0559-11e6-a837-0800200c9a66",
-      |    "occurred_at": "2016-04-01T13:42:16.000Z",
+      |    "occurred_at": "2016-04-01T13:42:16Z",
       |    "event_type": "order-created"
       |  }
       |}
diff --git a/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/OffsetMapSpec.scala b/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/OffsetMapSpec.scala
index 1f89d01..72d48fe 100644
--- a/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/OffsetMapSpec.scala
+++ b/src/test/scala/org/zalando/react/nakadi/commit/OffsetMapSpec.scala
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package org.zalando.react.nakadi.commit
 
-import org.joda.time.{DateTimeZone, DateTime}
 import org.scalatest.{Matchers, FlatSpec}