diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 8a724c282..e66f44249 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ BUILD_TIME := $(shell date -u +%FT%T%z)
 SHARD_WIDTH = 20
 COMMIT := $(shell git describe --exact-match >/dev/null 2>&1 || git rev-parse --short HEAD)
 LDFLAGS="-X github.com/pilosa/pilosa/v2.Version=$(VERSION) -X github.com/pilosa/pilosa/v2.BuildTime=$(BUILD_TIME) -X github.com/pilosa/pilosa/v2.Variant=$(VARIANT) -X github.com/pilosa/pilosa/v2.Commit=$(COMMIT) -X github.com/pilosa/pilosa/v2.LatticeCommit=$(LATTICE_COMMIT) -X github.com/pilosa/pilosa/v2.TrialDeadline=$(TRIAL_DEADLINE)"
+TRIAL_STRING = $(if $(TRIAL_DEADLINE),"-trial-$(TRIAL_DEADLINE)","")
 GO_VERSION=1.14.10
 RELEASE ?= 0
 RELEASE_ENABLED = $(subst 0,,$(RELEASE))
@@ -98,19 +99,12 @@ cover-viz: cover
 build:
 	go build -tags='$(BUILD_TAGS)' -ldflags $(LDFLAGS) $(FLAGS) ./cmd/pilosa
 
-# Create a single release trial build under the build directory
-release-build-trial:
-	$(MAKE) $(if $(DOCKER_BUILD),docker-)build FLAGS="-o build/pilosa-trial-$(VERSION_ID)/pilosa" RELEASE=1
-	cp NOTICE README.md build/pilosa-trial-$(VERSION_ID)
-	tar -cvz -C build -f build/pilosa-trial-$(VERSION_ID).tar.gz pilosa-trial-$(VERSION_ID)/
-	@echo Created release trial build: build/pilosa-trial-$(VERSION_ID).tar.gz
-
 # Create a single release build under the build directory
 release-build:
-	$(MAKE) $(if $(DOCKER_BUILD),docker-)build FLAGS="-o build/pilosa-$(VERSION_ID)/pilosa" RELEASE=1
-	cp NOTICE README.md LICENSE build/pilosa-$(VERSION_ID)
-	tar -cvz -C build -f build/pilosa-$(VERSION_ID).tar.gz pilosa-$(VERSION_ID)/
-	@echo Created release build: build/pilosa-$(VERSION_ID).tar.gz
+	$(MAKE) $(if $(DOCKER_BUILD),docker-)build FLAGS="-o build/pilosa$(TRIAL_STRING)-$(VERSION_ID)/pilosa" RELEASE=1
+	cp NOTICE README.md LICENSE build/pilosa$(TRIAL_STRING)-$(VERSION_ID)
+	tar -cvz -C build -f build/pilosa$(TRIAL_STRING)-$(VERSION_ID).tar.gz pilosa$(TRIAL_STRING)-$(VERSION_ID)/
+	@echo Created release build: build/pilosa$(TRIAL_STRING)-$(VERSION_ID).tar.gz
 
 # Error out if there are untracked changes in Git
 check-clean:
diff --git a/server/server.go b/server/server.go
index 089d29dba..cbd70a99f 100644
--- a/server/server.go
+++ b/server/server.go
@@ -39,7 +39,6 @@ import (
 
 	"golang.org/x/sync/errgroup"
 
-	"github.com/beevik/ntp"
 	"github.com/pelletier/go-toml"
 	"github.com/pilosa/pilosa/v2"
 	"github.com/pilosa/pilosa/v2/boltdb"
@@ -286,14 +285,7 @@ func (m *Command) SetupServer() error {
 
 	m.logger.Printf("%s", pilosa.VersionInfo())
 
-	if pilosa.TrialDeadline != "" {
-		layout := "2006-01-02"
-		endTime, err := time.Parse(layout, pilosa.TrialDeadline)
-		if err != nil {
-			return errors.Wrap(err, "parsing curTime from make file")
-		}
-		go m.dailyCheck(endTime)
-	}
+	m.trialVersion()
 
 	// If the pilosa command line uses -tx to override the
 	// PILOSA_TXSRC env variable, then we must also correct
@@ -488,47 +480,6 @@ func (m *Command) SetupServer() error {
 	return errors.Wrap(err, "new handler")
 }
 
-// dailyCheck runs in the background while a trial version of Molecula is being run, displaying daily reminders of the remaining days
-func (m *Command) dailyCheck(end time.Time) {
-	ticker := time.NewTicker(5 * time.Second)
-	var err error
-	for range ticker.C {
-		cur, err := m.ntpServerTime()
-		if err != nil {
-			m.logger.Printf("reading ntp server time %v", err)
-			os.Exit(1)
-		}
-		m.logger.Printf("Current time remaining in trial: %v", end.Sub(cur))
-		if end.Sub(cur) <= 0 {
-			m.logger.Printf("Your free trial has ended")
-			os.Exit(0)
-		}
-	}
-	m.logger.Printf("reading ntp server time %v", err)
-	os.Exit(1)
-}
-
-// ntpServerTime attempts to reach ntp servers with delays between each attempt
-func (m *Command) ntpServerTime() (time.Time, error) {
-	curTime, err := ntp.Time("0.beevik-ntp.pool.ntp.org")
-	errCount := 0
-	if err != nil {
-		for i := 0; i < 4; i++ {
-			curTime, err = ntp.Time("0.beevik-ntp.pool.ntp.org")
-			if err != nil {
-				errCount++
-				if errCount >= 4 {
-					return curTime, err
-				}
-				time.Sleep(100 * time.Millisecond)
-			} else {
-				break
-			}
-		}
-	}
-	return curTime, err
-}
-
 // setupNetworking sets up internode communication based on the configuration.
 func (m *Command) setupNetworking() error {
 	if m.Config.Cluster.Disabled {
diff --git a/server/trial.go b/server/trial.go
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..85df72422
--- /dev/null
+++ b/server/trial.go
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+package server
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"time"
+
+	"github.com/beevik/ntp"
+	"github.com/pilosa/pilosa/v2"
+)
+
+func (m *Command) trialVersion() {
+	if pilosa.TrialDeadline != "" {
+		endTime, err := time.Parse("2006-01-02", pilosa.TrialDeadline)
+		if err != nil {
+			m.logger.Printf("parsing curTime from make file: %v", err)
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+		go m.dailyCheck(endTime)
+	}
+}
+
+const hoursPerCheck = 24 * time.Hour
+
+// dailyCheck runs in the background while a trial version of Molecula is being run, displaying daily reminders of the remaining days
+func (m *Command) dailyCheck(endTime time.Time) {
+	ticker := time.NewTicker(hoursPerCheck)
+	startTime, err := m.ntpServerTime(4)
+	if err != nil {
+		m.logger.Printf("reading ntp server time %v", err)
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	runDuration := endTime.Sub(startTime)
+	if runDuration <= 0 {
+		m.logger.Printf("Trial edition of Molecula has expired, exiting now!")
+		os.Exit(1)
+	}
+	for range ticker.C {
+		runningDuration := time.Since(startTime)
+		m.logger.Printf("Current time remaining in trial: %v", runDuration-runningDuration)
+		if runningDuration >= runDuration {
+			m.logger.Printf("Trial edition of Molecula has expired, exiting now!")
+			os.Exit(1)
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+const url = "0.beevik-ntp.pool.ntp.org"
+const timeRequestDelay = 100 * time.Millisecond
+
+// ntpServerTime attempts to reach ntp servers with delays between each attempt, returning the time value of the first connected server
+func (m *Command) ntpServerTime(retries int) (time.Time, error) {
+	t, err := ntp.Time(url)
+	if err != nil && retries <= 0 {
+		return t, err
+	}
+	if err != nil {
+		time.Sleep(timeRequestDelay)
+		return m.ntpServerTime(retries - 1)
+	}
+	return t, nil
+}