diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/date_summary.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/date_summary.py
index 59448608cf..06170a3995 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/date_summary.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/date_summary.py
@@ -68,28 +68,9 @@ class DateSummary(object):
 
     def get_context(self):
         """Return the template context used to render this summary block."""
-        date = ''
-        if self.date is not None:
-            # Translators: relative_date is a fuzzy description of the
-            # time from now until absolute_date. For example,
-            # absolute_date might be "Jan 01, 2020", and if today were
-            # December 5th, 2020, relative_date would be "1 month".
-            locale = to_locale(get_language())
-            try:
-                relative_date = format_timedelta(self.date - datetime.now(pytz.UTC), locale=locale)
-            # Babel doesn't have translations for Esperanto, so we get
-            # a KeyError when testing translations with
-            # ?preview-lang=eo. This should not happen with any other
-            # languages. See https://github.com/python-babel/babel/issues/107
-            except KeyError:
-                relative_date = format_timedelta(self.date - datetime.now(pytz.UTC))
-            date = _("in {relative_date} - {absolute_date}").format(
-                relative_date=relative_date,
-                absolute_date=self.date.strftime(self.date_format),
-            )
         return {
             'title': self.title,
-            'date': date,
+            'date': self._format_date(),
             'description': self.description,
             'css_class': self.css_class,
             'link': self.link,
@@ -102,6 +83,35 @@ class DateSummary(object):
         """
         return render_to_string('courseware/date_summary.html', self.get_context())
 
+    def _format_date(self):
+        """
+        Return this block's date in a human-readable format. If the date
+        is None, returns the empty string.
+        """
+        if self.date is None:
+            return ''
+        locale = to_locale(get_language())
+        delta = self.date - datetime.now(pytz.UTC)
+        try:
+            relative_date = format_timedelta(delta, locale=locale)
+        # Babel doesn't have translations for Esperanto, so we get
+        # a KeyError when testing translations with
+        # ?preview-lang=eo. This should not happen with any other
+        # languages. See https://github.com/python-babel/babel/issues/107
+        except KeyError:
+            relative_date = format_timedelta(delta)
+        date_has_passed = delta.days < 0
+        # Translators: 'absolute' is a date such as "Jan 01,
+        # 2020". 'relative' is a fuzzy description of the time until
+        # 'absolute'. For example, 'absolute' might be "Jan 01, 2020",
+        # and if today were December 5th, 2020, 'relative' would be "1
+        # month".
+        date_format = _("{relative} ago - {absolute}") if date_has_passed else _("in {relative} - {absolute}")
+        return date_format.format(
+            relative=relative_date,
+            absolute=self.date.strftime(self.date_format),
+        )
+
     @property
     def is_enabled(self):
         """
diff --git a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_date_summary.py b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_date_summary.py
index 965c295460..60a392b169 100644
--- a/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_date_summary.py
+++ b/lms/djangoapps/courseware/tests/test_date_summary.py
@@ -257,3 +257,18 @@ class CourseDateSummaryTest(SharedModuleStoreTestCase):
         )
         self.assertEqual(block.link_text, 'Learn More')
         self.assertEqual(block.link, '')
+
+    @freezegun.freeze_time('2015-01-02')
+    @ddt.data(
+        (-1, '1 day ago - Jan 01, 2015'),
+        (1, 'in 1 day - Jan 03, 2015')
+    )
+    @ddt.unpack
+    def test_render_date_string_past(self, delta, expected_date_string):
+        self.setup_course_and_user(
+            days_till_start=-10,
+            verification_status='denied',
+            days_till_verification_deadline=delta,
+        )
+        block = VerificationDeadlineDate(self.course, self.user)
+        self.assertEqual(block.get_context()['date'], expected_date_string)