diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/transformations/transformers/formatTime.test.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/transformations/transformers/formatTime.test.ts
index bf3700418a39..fe5096226a37 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/transformations/transformers/formatTime.test.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/transformations/transformers/formatTime.test.ts
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ import { toDataFrame } from '../../dataframe/processDataFrame';
 import { FieldType } from '../../types/dataFrame';
 import { mockTransformationsRegistry } from '../../utils/tests/mockTransformationsRegistry';
 
-import { createTimeFormatter, formatTimeTransformer } from './formatTime';
+import { applyFormatTime, formatTimeTransformer } from './formatTime';
 
 describe('Format Time Transformer', () => {
   beforeAll(() => {
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ describe('Format Time Transformer', () => {
       timezone: 'utc',
     };
 
-    const formatter = createTimeFormatter(options.timeField, options.outputFormat, options.timezone);
     const frame = toDataFrame({
       fields: [
         {
@@ -27,8 +26,32 @@ describe('Format Time Transformer', () => {
       ],
     });
 
-    const newFrame = formatter(frame.fields);
-    expect(newFrame[0].values).toEqual(['2021-02', '2023-07', '2023-04', '2023-07', '2023-08']);
+    const newFrames = applyFormatTime(options, [frame]);
+    expect(newFrames[0].fields[0].values).toEqual(['2021-02', '2023-07', '2023-04', '2023-07', '2023-08']);
+  });
+
+  it('will match on getFieldDisplayName', () => {
+    const options = {
+      timeField: 'Created',
+      outputFormat: 'YYYY-MM',
+      timezone: 'utc',
+    };
+
+    const frame = toDataFrame({
+      fields: [
+        {
+          name: 'created',
+          type: FieldType.time,
+          values: [1612939600000, 1689192000000, 1682025600000, 1690328089000, 1691011200000],
+          config: {
+            displayName: 'Created',
+          },
+        },
+      ],
+    });
+
+    const newFrames = applyFormatTime(options, [frame]);
+    expect(newFrames[0].fields[0].values).toEqual(['2021-02', '2023-07', '2023-04', '2023-07', '2023-08']);
   });
 
   it('will handle formats with times', () => {
@@ -38,7 +61,6 @@ describe('Format Time Transformer', () => {
       timezone: 'utc',
     };
 
-    const formatter = createTimeFormatter(options.timeField, options.outputFormat, options.timezone);
     const frame = toDataFrame({
       fields: [
         {
@@ -49,8 +71,8 @@ describe('Format Time Transformer', () => {
       ],
     });
 
-    const newFrame = formatter(frame.fields);
-    expect(newFrame[0].values).toEqual([
+    const newFrames = applyFormatTime(options, [frame]);
+    expect(newFrames[0].fields[0].values).toEqual([
       '2021-02 6:46:40 am',
       '2023-07 8:00:00 pm',
       '2023-04 9:20:00 pm',
@@ -66,7 +88,6 @@ describe('Format Time Transformer', () => {
       timezone: 'utc',
     };
 
-    const formatter = createTimeFormatter(options.timeField, options.outputFormat, options.timezone);
     const frame = toDataFrame({
       fields: [
         {
@@ -77,8 +98,8 @@ describe('Format Time Transformer', () => {
       ],
     });
 
-    const newFrame = formatter(frame.fields);
-    expect(newFrame[0].values).toEqual([
+    const newFrames = applyFormatTime(options, [frame]);
+    expect(newFrames[0].fields[0].values).toEqual([
       '2021-02 6:46:40 am',
       '2023-07 8:00:00 pm',
       '2023-04 9:20:00 pm',
diff --git a/packages/grafana-data/src/transformations/transformers/formatTime.ts b/packages/grafana-data/src/transformations/transformers/formatTime.ts
index bd5a496562b3..62314055dc3a 100644
--- a/packages/grafana-data/src/transformations/transformers/formatTime.ts
+++ b/packages/grafana-data/src/transformations/transformers/formatTime.ts
@@ -2,8 +2,9 @@ import { map } from 'rxjs/operators';
 
 import { TimeZone } from '@grafana/schema';
 
-import { DataFrame, Field, TransformationApplicabilityLevels } from '../../types';
-import { DataTransformerInfo } from '../../types/transformations';
+import { cacheFieldDisplayNames } from '../../field';
+import { DataFrame, TransformationApplicabilityLevels } from '../../types';
+import { DataTransformContext, DataTransformerInfo } from '../../types/transformations';
 
 import { fieldToStringField } from './convertFieldType';
 import { DataTransformerID } from './ids';
@@ -34,21 +35,10 @@ export const formatTimeTransformer: DataTransformerInfo<FormatTimeTransformerOpt
   },
   isApplicableDescription:
     'The Format time transformation requires a time field to work. No time field could be found.',
-  operator: (options) => (source) =>
+  operator: (options, ctx) => (source) =>
     source.pipe(
       map((data) => {
-        // If a field and a format are configured
-        // then format the time output
-        const formatter = createTimeFormatter(options.timeField, options.outputFormat, options.timezone);
-
-        if (!Array.isArray(data) || data.length === 0) {
-          return data;
-        }
-
-        return data.map((frame) => ({
-          ...frame,
-          fields: formatter(frame.fields),
-        }));
+        return applyFormatTime(options, data, ctx);
       })
     ),
 };
@@ -56,21 +46,27 @@ export const formatTimeTransformer: DataTransformerInfo<FormatTimeTransformerOpt
 /**
  * @internal
  */
-export const createTimeFormatter = (timeField: string, outputFormat: string, timezone: string) => (fields: Field[]) => {
-  return fields.map((field) => {
-    // Find the configured field
-    if (field.name === timeField) {
-      // Update values to use the configured format
-      let formattedField = null;
-      if (timezone) {
-        formattedField = fieldToStringField(field, outputFormat, { timeZone: timezone });
-      } else {
-        formattedField = fieldToStringField(field, outputFormat);
-      }
+export const applyFormatTime = (
+  { timeField, outputFormat, timezone }: FormatTimeTransformerOptions,
+  data: DataFrame[],
+  ctx?: DataTransformContext
+) => {
+  if (!Array.isArray(data) || data.length === 0) {
+    return data;
+  }
 
-      return formattedField;
-    }
+  cacheFieldDisplayNames(data);
+
+  outputFormat = ctx?.interpolate(outputFormat) ?? outputFormat;
+
+  return data.map((frame) => ({
+    ...frame,
+    fields: frame.fields.map((field) => {
+      if (field.state?.displayName === timeField) {
+        field = fieldToStringField(field, outputFormat, { timeZone: timezone });
+      }
 
-    return field;
-  });
+      return field;
+    }),
+  }));
 };