diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/licensing/server/services/feature_usage_service.test.ts b/x-pack/plugins/licensing/server/services/feature_usage_service.test.ts
index e31e7abff509d8..f0ef0dbec0b220 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/licensing/server/services/feature_usage_service.test.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/licensing/server/services/feature_usage_service.test.ts
@@ -43,6 +43,16 @@ describe('FeatureUsageService', () => {
         expect(start.getLastUsages().get('feature')).toBe(127001);
       });
 
+      it('can receive a Date object', () => {
+        const setup = service.setup();
+        setup.register('feature');
+        const start = service.start();
+
+        const usageTime = new Date(2015, 9, 21, 17, 54, 12);
+        start.notifyUsage('feature', usageTime);
+        expect(start.getLastUsages().get('feature')).toBe(usageTime.getTime());
+      });
+
       it('uses the current time when `usedAt` is unspecified', () => {
         jest.spyOn(Date, 'now').mockReturnValue(42);
 
diff --git a/x-pack/plugins/licensing/server/services/feature_usage_service.ts b/x-pack/plugins/licensing/server/services/feature_usage_service.ts
index ff9cf7eb28149f..47ffe3a3d9f54f 100644
--- a/x-pack/plugins/licensing/server/services/feature_usage_service.ts
+++ b/x-pack/plugins/licensing/server/services/feature_usage_service.ts
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the Elastic License.
  */
 
+import { isDate } from 'lodash';
+
 /** @public */
 export interface FeatureUsageServiceSetup {
   /**
@@ -16,9 +18,11 @@ export interface FeatureUsageServiceSetup {
 export interface FeatureUsageServiceStart {
   /**
    * Notify of a registered feature usage at given time.
-   * If `usedAt` is not specified, it will use the current time instead.
+   *
+   * @param featureName - the name of the feature to notify usage of
+   * @param usedAt - Either a `Date` or an unix timestamp with ms. If not specified, it will be set to the current time.
    */
-  notifyUsage(featureName: string, usedAt?: number): void;
+  notifyUsage(featureName: string, usedAt?: Date | number): void;
   /**
    * Return a map containing last usage timestamp for all features.
    * Features that were not used yet do not appear in the map.
@@ -47,6 +51,9 @@ export class FeatureUsageService {
         if (!this.features.includes(featureName)) {
           throw new Error(`Feature '${featureName}' is not registered.`);
         }
+        if (isDate(usedAt)) {
+          usedAt = usedAt.getTime();
+        }
         const currentValue = this.lastUsages.get(featureName) ?? 0;
         this.lastUsages.set(featureName, Math.max(usedAt, currentValue));
       },