diff --git a/podwrapper.pl.in b/podwrapper.pl.in
index ea723d2e8..30b0ea7c2 100755
--- a/podwrapper.pl.in
+++ b/podwrapper.pl.in
@@ -287,7 +287,7 @@ if (!$date && -d $filename) {
     $date = $1 if /^(\d+-\d+-\d+)\s/;
 }
 if (!$date) {
-    my ($day, $month, $year) = (localtime)[3,4,5];
+    my ($day, $month, $year) = (gmtime($ENV{SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH} || time))[3,4,5];
     $date = sprintf ("%04d-%02d-%02d", $year+1900, $month+1, $day);
 }