diff --git a/src/syslog.c b/src/syslog.c
index 0a8d86d..9f6f4ce 100644
--- a/src/syslog.c
+++ b/src/syslog.c
@@ -243,7 +243,12 @@ vsyslogp_r(int pri, struct syslog_data *data, const char *msgid,
 	} else
 		prlen = 0;
 
-	if (gettimeofday(&tv, NULL) != -1) {
+	if (gettimeofday(&tv, NULL) == -1) {
+		tv.tv_sec  = time(NULL);
+		tv.tv_usec = 0;
+	}
+
+	{
 		/* strftime() implies tzset(), localtime_r() doesn't. */
 		tzset();
 		now = (time_t) tv.tv_sec;