diff --git a/scripts/close-no-recent.ps1 b/scripts/close-no-recent.ps1
index cf820a62af..55136a58dc 100644
--- a/scripts/close-no-recent.ps1
+++ b/scripts/close-no-recent.ps1
@@ -1,18 +1,17 @@
 $inactivityDelay = [timespan]::FromDays([int]::Parse($Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_DURATION_CLOSE_IN_DAYS))
-$oldIssues = gh issue list --label "$Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_LABEL" --state open --limit 100 --json number,author,createdAt | ConvertFrom-Json
+$oldIssues = gh issue list --label "$Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_LABEL" --state open --limit 100 --json number,author,createdAt,labels | ConvertFrom-Json | Where-Object {$_.labels.name -notcontains $Env:NEEDS_ATTENTION_LABEL }
 foreach($oldIssue in $oldIssues) {
 	$lastComment = gh issue view $oldIssue.number --json comments | ConvertFrom-Json | Select-Object -ExpandProperty comments | Where-Object {$_.author.login -eq $oldIssue.author.login} | Select-Object -Last 1
 	if($null -eq $lastComment) {
-		$lastCommentDate = [datetime]::Parse($oldIssue.createdAt)
-
+		$lastCommentDate = [datetime]$null
 	} else {
-		$lastCommentDate = [datetime]::Parse($lastComment.createdAt)
+		$lastCommentDate = $lastComment.createdAt #powershell already parses the date for us with the json conversion
 	}
 	$lastLabelEvent = gh api -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" "/repos/$($Env:ORG_NAME)/$($Env:REPO_NAME)/issues/$($oldIssue.number)/events?per_page=100" | ConvertFrom-Json | Where-Object {$_.event -eq "labeled" -and $_.label.name -eq "$Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_LABEL"} | Select-Object -Last 1
-	$lastLabelEventDate = [datetime]::Parse($lastLabelEvent.created_at)
-	if ($lastCommentDate -gt $lastLabelEventDate) {
+	$lastLabelEventDate = $lastLabelEvent.created_at
+	if ($null -ne $lastCommentDate -and $lastCommentDate -gt $lastLabelEventDate) {
 		gh issue edit $oldIssue.number --remove-label "$Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_LABEL" --remove-label "$Env:NEEDS_AUTHOR_FEEDBACK_LABEL" --add-label "$Env:NEEDS_ATTENTION_LABEL"
-	} elseif (($lastLabelEventDate - $lastCommentDate) -ge $inactivityDelay) {
+	} elseif (([datetime]::UtcNow - $lastLabelEventDate) -ge $inactivityDelay) {
 		gh issue close $oldIssue.number -r "not planned"
 	}
 }
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/scripts/label-no-recent.ps1 b/scripts/label-no-recent.ps1
index ed1e997663..793a9b26b4 100644
--- a/scripts/label-no-recent.ps1
+++ b/scripts/label-no-recent.ps1
@@ -1,18 +1,17 @@
 $inactivityDelay = [timespan]::FromDays([int]::Parse($Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_DURATION_IN_DAYS))
-$oldIssues = gh issue list --label "$Env:NEEDS_AUTHOR_FEEDBACK_LABEL" --state open --limit 100 --json number,author,createdAt | ConvertFrom-Json
+$oldIssues = gh issue list --label "$Env:NEEDS_AUTHOR_FEEDBACK_LABEL" --state open --limit 100 --json number,author,createdAt,labels | ConvertFrom-Json | Where-Object {$_.labels.name -notcontains $Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_LABEL }
 foreach($oldIssue in $oldIssues) {
 	$lastComment = gh issue view $oldIssue.number --json comments | ConvertFrom-Json | Select-Object -ExpandProperty comments | Where-Object {$_.author.login -eq $oldIssue.author.login} | Select-Object -Last 1
 	if($null -eq $lastComment) {
-		$lastCommentDate = [datetime]::Parse($oldIssue.createdAt)
-
+		$lastCommentDate = [datetime]$null
 	} else {
-		$lastCommentDate = [datetime]::Parse($lastComment.createdAt)
+		$lastCommentDate = $lastComment.createdAt #powershell already parses the date for us with the json conversion
 	}
 	$lastLabelEvent = gh api -H "Accept: application/vnd.github+json" -H "X-GitHub-Api-Version: 2022-11-28" "/repos/$($Env:ORG_NAME)/$($Env:REPO_NAME)/issues/$($oldIssue.number)/events?per_page=100" | ConvertFrom-Json | Where-Object {$_.event -eq "labeled" -and $_.label.name -eq "$Env:NEEDS_AUTHOR_FEEDBACK_LABEL"} | Select-Object -Last 1
-	$lastLabelEventDate = [datetime]::Parse($lastLabelEvent.created_at)
-	if ($lastCommentDate -gt $lastLabelEventDate) {
+	$lastLabelEventDate = $lastLabelEvent.created_at
+	if ($null -ne $lastCommentDate -and $lastCommentDate -gt $lastLabelEventDate) {
 		gh issue edit $oldIssue.number --remove-label "$Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_LABEL" --remove-label "$Env:NEEDS_AUTHOR_FEEDBACK_LABEL" --add-label "$Env:NEEDS_ATTENTION_LABEL"
-	} elseif (($lastLabelEventDate -$lastCommentDate) -ge $inactivityDelay) {
+	} elseif (([datetime]::UtcNow - $lastLabelEventDate) -ge $inactivityDelay) {
 		gh issue edit $oldIssue.number --add-label "$Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_LABEL" --remove-label "$Env:NEEDS_ATTENTION_LABEL"
 		gh issue comment $oldIssue.number -b "$Env:NO_RECENT_ACTIVITY_COMMENT"
 	}