diff --git a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/custom-fields-query-dropdown/custom-fields-query-dropdown.component.html b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/custom-fields-query-dropdown/custom-fields-query-dropdown.component.html
index ed6cc585d..3e057319a 100644
--- a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/custom-fields-query-dropdown/custom-fields-query-dropdown.component.html
+++ b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/custom-fields-query-dropdown/custom-fields-query-dropdown.component.html
@@ -39,10 +39,12 @@
     </button>
     @if (relativeDate) {
       <div class="input-group input-group-sm w-100 order-1 mt-1">
-        <input class="form-control w-25 flex-grow-0" type="number" min="0" aria-label="Amount" i18n-aria-label
-          [ngModel]="relativeDate.amount"
-          (ngModelChange)="updateRelativeDate(atom, { amount: $event })"
-          [ngModelOptions]="{standalone: true}" />
+        @if (relativeDate.unit.includes('{n}')) {
+          <input class="form-control w-25 flex-grow-0" type="number" min="0" aria-label="Amount" i18n-aria-label
+            [ngModel]="relativeDate.amount"
+            (ngModelChange)="updateRelativeDate(atom, { amount: $event })"
+            [ngModelOptions]="{standalone: true}" />
+        }
         <select class="form-select" aria-label="Unit" i18n-aria-label
           [ngModel]="relativeDate.unit"
           (ngModelChange)="updateRelativeDate(atom, { unit: $event })"
diff --git a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/custom-fields-query-dropdown/custom-fields-query-dropdown.component.ts b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/custom-fields-query-dropdown/custom-fields-query-dropdown.component.ts
index 7cff55161..87ea17c8b 100644
--- a/src-ui/src/app/components/common/custom-fields-query-dropdown/custom-fields-query-dropdown.component.ts
+++ b/src-ui/src/app/components/common/custom-fields-query-dropdown/custom-fields-query-dropdown.component.ts
@@ -49,15 +49,26 @@ import { LoadingComponentWithPermissions } from '../../loading-component/loading
 import { ClearableBadgeComponent } from '../clearable-badge/clearable-badge.component'
 import { DocumentLinkComponent } from '../input/document-link/document-link.component'
 
-// Matches the English expressions built by updateRelativeDate, e.g. "30 days ago" / "in 2 weeks"
-const RELATIVE_DATE_PATTERN =
-  /^(?:(\d+) (days|weeks|months|years) ago|in (\d+) (days|weeks|months|years))$/
-
 interface RelativeDate {
+  // The expression sent to the API, with {n} standing in for the amount
   amount: number | null
   unit: string
 }
 
+function parseRelativeDate(
+  value: string,
+  unit: string
+): RelativeDate | undefined {
+  const [prefix, suffix] = unit.split('{n}')
+  if (suffix === undefined) {
+    return value === unit ? { amount: null, unit } : undefined
+  }
+  if (!value.startsWith(prefix) || !value.endsWith(suffix)) return undefined
+  const amount = value.slice(prefix.length, value.length - suffix.length)
+  if (!amount || !Number.isInteger(+amount) || +amount < 0) return undefined
+  return { amount: +amount, unit }
+}
+
 export class CustomFieldQueriesModel {
   private readonly _queries = signal<CustomFieldQueryElement[]>([])
   private rootSubscriptions: Subscription[] = []
@@ -315,30 +326,27 @@ export class CustomFieldsQueryDropdownComponent extends LoadingComponentWithPerm
   public readonly today: string = new Date().toLocaleDateString('en-CA')
 
   public readonly relativeDateUnits = [
-    { id: 'days ago', label: $localize`days ago` },
-    { id: 'weeks ago', label: $localize`weeks ago` },
-    { id: 'months ago', label: $localize`months ago` },
-    { id: 'years ago', label: $localize`years ago` },
-    { id: 'days from now', label: $localize`days from now` },
-    { id: 'weeks from now', label: $localize`weeks from now` },
-    { id: 'months from now', label: $localize`months from now` },
-    { id: 'years from now', label: $localize`years from now` },
+    { id: 'today', label: $localize`Today` },
+    { id: '{n} days ago', label: $localize`days ago` },
+    { id: '{n} weeks ago', label: $localize`weeks ago` },
+    { id: '{n} months ago', label: $localize`months ago` },
+    { id: '{n} years ago', label: $localize`years ago` },
+    { id: 'in {n} days', label: $localize`days from now` },
+    { id: 'in {n} weeks', label: $localize`weeks from now` },
+    { id: 'in {n} months', label: $localize`months from now` },
+    { id: 'in {n} years', label: $localize`years from now` },
   ]
 
   private readonly relativeDates = new Map<string, RelativeDate>()
 
   getRelativeDate(atom: CustomFieldQueryAtom): RelativeDate | undefined {
-    if (!this.relativeDates.has(atom.id)) {
-      const match =
-        typeof atom.value === 'string' &&
-        atom.value.match(RELATIVE_DATE_PATTERN)
-      if (match) {
-        this.relativeDates.set(
-          atom.id,
-          match[1]
-            ? { amount: +match[1], unit: `${match[2]} ago` }
-            : { amount: +match[3], unit: `${match[4]} from now` }
-        )
+    if (!this.relativeDates.has(atom.id) && typeof atom.value === 'string') {
+      for (const { id } of this.relativeDateUnits) {
+        const relativeDate = parseRelativeDate(atom.value, id)
+        if (relativeDate) {
+          this.relativeDates.set(atom.id, relativeDate)
+          break
+        }
       }
     }
     return this.relativeDates.get(atom.id)
@@ -349,7 +357,7 @@ export class CustomFieldsQueryDropdownComponent extends LoadingComponentWithPerm
       this.relativeDates.delete(atom.id)
       atom.value = null
     } else {
-      this.relativeDates.set(atom.id, { amount: null, unit: 'days ago' })
+      this.relativeDates.set(atom.id, { amount: null, unit: '{n} days ago' })
       this.updateRelativeDate(atom, {})
     }
   }
@@ -358,15 +366,15 @@ export class CustomFieldsQueryDropdownComponent extends LoadingComponentWithPerm
     atom: CustomFieldQueryAtom,
     change: Partial<RelativeDate>
   ) {
-    const relativeDate = Object.assign(this.relativeDates.get(atom.id), change)
-    const { amount, unit } = relativeDate
-    const [period, direction] = unit.split(' ', 2)
-    atom.value =
-      amount === null
-        ? null
-        : direction === 'ago'
-          ? `${amount} ${unit}`
-          : `in ${amount} ${period}`
+    const { amount, unit } = Object.assign(
+      this.relativeDates.get(atom.id),
+      change
+    )
+    if (!unit.includes('{n}')) {
+      atom.value = unit
+    } else {
+      atom.value = amount === null ? null : unit.replace('{n}', `${amount}`)
+    }
   }
 
   public customFieldSearchFn = (term: string, field: CustomField): boolean =>