diff --git a/puppet/zulip/files/nagios_plugins/zulip_app_frontend/check_send_receive_time b/puppet/zulip/files/nagios_plugins/zulip_app_frontend/check_send_receive_time
index 485ff5b2b5..f4ea1cddf0 100755
--- a/puppet/zulip/files/nagios_plugins/zulip_app_frontend/check_send_receive_time
+++ b/puppet/zulip/files/nagios_plugins/zulip_app_frontend/check_send_receive_time
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ states = {
     "UNKNOWN": 3
 }
 
-def report(state, timestamp, msg=None):
+def report(state, timestamp=None, msg=None):
     # type: (str, Any, Optional[str]) -> None
     now = int(time.time())
     if msg is None:
@@ -112,20 +112,20 @@ def send_zulip(sender, message):
     # type: (zulip.Client, Dict[str, Any]) -> None
     result = sender.send_message(message)
     if result["result"] != "success" and options.nagios:
-        report("CRITICAL", "Error sending Zulip, args were: %s, %s" % (message, result))
+        report("CRITICAL", msg="Error sending Zulip, args were: %s, %s" % (message, result))
 
 def get_zulips():
     # type: () -> List[Dict[str, Any]]
     global queue_id, last_event_id
     res = zulip_recipient.get_events(queue_id=queue_id, last_event_id=last_event_id)
     if 'error' in res.get('result'):
-        report("CRITICAL", "Error receiving Zulips, error was: %s" % (res["msg"]))
+        report("CRITICAL", msg="Error receiving Zulips, error was: %s" % (res["msg"]))
     for event in res['events']:
         last_event_id = max(last_event_id, int(event['id']))
     # If we get a heartbeat event, that means we've been hanging for
     # 40s, and we should bail.
     if 'heartbeat' in set(event['type'] for event in res['events']):
-        report("CRITICAL", "Got heartbeat waiting for Zulip, which means get_events is hanging")
+        report("CRITICAL", msg="Got heartbeat waiting for Zulip, which means get_events is hanging")
     return [event['message'] for event in res['events']]
 
 def send_message_via_websocket(websocket_client, recepient_email, content):
@@ -159,10 +159,10 @@ zulip_recipient = zulip.Client(
 try:
     res = zulip_recipient.register(event_types=["message"])
     if 'error' in res.get('result'):
-        report("CRITICAL", "Error subscribing to Zulips: %s" % (res['msg']))
+        report("CRITICAL", msg="Error subscribing to Zulips: %s" % (res['msg']))
     queue_id, last_event_id = (res['queue_id'], res['last_event_id'])
 except Exception:
-    report("CRITICAL", "Error subscribing to Zulips:\n%s" % (traceback.format_exc()))
+    report("CRITICAL", msg="Error subscribing to Zulips:\n%s" % (traceback.format_exc()))
 msg_to_send = str(random.getrandbits(64))
 time_start = time.time()
 
@@ -192,11 +192,11 @@ zulip_recipient.deregister(queue_id)
 
 if options.nagios:
     if seconds_diff > 12:
-        report('CRITICAL', seconds_diff)
+        report('CRITICAL', timestamp=seconds_diff)
     if seconds_diff > 3:
-        report('WARNING', seconds_diff)
+        report('WARNING', timestamp=seconds_diff)
 
 if options.munin:
     print("sendreceive.value %s" % (seconds_diff,))
 elif options.nagios:
-    report('OK', seconds_diff)
+    report('OK', timestamp=seconds_diff)