diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d48dc5f6d86c..a9de67538c30 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -32,6 +32,11 @@ Main (unreleased)
 
 - Disable node_exporter on Windows systems (@jkroepke)
 
+### Bugfixes
+
+- Fix issue where component evaluation time was overridden by a "default
+  health" message. (@rfratto)
+
 ### Other changes
 
 - Add metrics when clustering mode is enabled. (@rfratto)
diff --git a/component/component_health.go b/component/component_health.go
index 8779e84e0cbe..66a3647886bd 100644
--- a/component/component_health.go
+++ b/component/component_health.go
@@ -45,16 +45,6 @@ var (
 	_ encoding.TextUnmarshaler = (*HealthType)(nil)
 )
 
-// Default Health returns a copy of the default health for use when a component
-// does not implement HealthComponent.
-func DefaultHealth() Health {
-	return Health{
-		Health:     HealthTypeHealthy,
-		Message:    "default health",
-		UpdateTime: time.Now(),
-	}
-}
-
 const (
 	// HealthTypeUnknown is the initial health of components, set when they're
 	// first created.
diff --git a/pkg/flow/internal/controller/component.go b/pkg/flow/internal/controller/component.go
index 6df57ffc5e35..218a07b20445 100644
--- a/pkg/flow/internal/controller/component.go
+++ b/pkg/flow/internal/controller/component.go
@@ -445,17 +445,14 @@ func (cn *ComponentNode) CurrentHealth() component.Health {
 	var (
 		runHealth  = cn.runHealth
 		evalHealth = cn.evalHealth
-
-		componentHealth component.Health
 	)
 
 	if hc, ok := cn.managed.(component.HealthComponent); ok {
-		componentHealth = hc.CurrentHealth()
-	} else {
-		componentHealth = component.DefaultHealth()
+		componentHealth := hc.CurrentHealth()
+		return component.LeastHealthy(runHealth, evalHealth, componentHealth)
 	}
 
-	return component.LeastHealthy(runHealth, evalHealth, componentHealth)
+	return component.LeastHealthy(runHealth, evalHealth)
 }
 
 // DebugInfo returns debugging information from the managed component (if any).