diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/systemd/default.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/systemd/default.nix
index 6b075a29f6f0..3030234b497e 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/linux/systemd/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/linux/systemd/default.nix
@@ -406,6 +406,14 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
 
   mesonFlags = [
     "-Dversion-tag=${version}"
+    # We bump this variable on every (major) version change to ensure
+    # that we have known-good value for a timestamp that is in the (not so distant) past.
+    # This serves as a lower bound for valid system timestamps during startup. Systemd will
+    # reset the system timestamp if this date is +- 15 years from the system time.
+    # See the systemd v250 release notes for further details:
+    # https://github.com/systemd/systemd/blob/60e930fc3e6eb8a36fbc184773119eb8d2f30364/NEWS#L258-L266
+    "-Dtime-epoch=${releaseTimestamp}"
+
     "-Ddbuspolicydir=${placeholder "out"}/share/dbus-1/system.d"
     "-Ddbussessionservicedir=${placeholder "out"}/share/dbus-1/services"
     "-Ddbussystemservicedir=${placeholder "out"}/share/dbus-1/system-services"
@@ -470,7 +478,6 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
     */
     "-Dsystem-uid-max=999"
     "-Dsystem-gid-max=999"
-    # "-Dtime-epoch=1"
 
     "-Dsysvinit-path="
     "-Dsysvrcnd-path="