diff --git a/git-compat-util.h b/git-compat-util.h
index 1e6592624d..4a200a9fb4 100644
--- a/git-compat-util.h
+++ b/git-compat-util.h
@@ -339,6 +339,25 @@ static inline const char *precompose_string_if_needed(const char *in)
 int compat_mkdir_wo_trailing_slash(const char*, mode_t);
 #endif
 
+#ifdef time
+#undef time
+#endif
+static inline time_t git_time(time_t *tloc)
+{
+	struct timeval tv;
+
+	/*
+	 * Avoid time(NULL), which can disagree with gettimeofday(2)
+	 * and filesystem timestamps.
+	 */
+	gettimeofday(&tv, NULL);
+
+	if (tloc)
+		*tloc = tv.tv_sec;
+	return tv.tv_sec;
+}
+#define time git_time
+
 #ifdef NO_STRUCT_ITIMERVAL
 struct itimerval {
 	struct timeval it_interval;