diff --git a/persistent_messages/storage.py b/persistent_messages/storage.py
index 67caf91..aac80c0 100644
--- a/persistent_messages/storage.py
+++ b/persistent_messages/storage.py
@@ -5,7 +5,12 @@
 from django.contrib.auth.models import AnonymousUser
 from django.contrib.messages.storage.fallback import FallbackStorage
 from django.db.models import Q
-import datetime
+
+try:
+    from django.utils.timezone import now  # pre Django 1.4
+except ImportError:
+    from datetime import datetime  # Django 1.4
+    now = datetime.now
 
 def get_user(request):
     if hasattr(request, 'user') and request.user.__class__ != AnonymousUser:
@@ -29,7 +34,7 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.is_anonymous = not get_user(self.request).is_authenticated()
 
     def _message_queryset(self, exclude_unread=True):
-        qs = Message.objects.filter(user=get_user(self.request)).filter(Q(expires=None) | Q(expires__gt=datetime.datetime.now()))
+        qs = Message.objects.filter(user=get_user(self.request)).filter(Q(expires=None) | Q(expires__gt=now()))
         if exclude_unread:
             qs = qs.exclude(read=True)
         return qs