diff --git a/wolfcrypt/src/wc_port.c b/wolfcrypt/src/wc_port.c
index 6547996e7..28ae8ab09 100644
--- a/wolfcrypt/src/wc_port.c
+++ b/wolfcrypt/src/wc_port.c
@@ -3164,6 +3164,30 @@ time_t z_time(time_t * timer)
 {
     struct timespec ts;
 
+    #if defined(CONFIG_RTC) && \
+        (defined(CONFIG_PICOLIBC) || defined(CONFIG_NEWLIB_LIBC))
+    /* Try to obtain the actual time from an RTC */
+    static const struct device *rtc = DEVICE_DT_GET(DT_NODELABEL(rtc));
+
+    if (device_is_ready(rtc)) {
+        struct rtc_time rtc_time;
+        struct tm *tm_time = rtc_time_to_tm(&rtc_time);
+
+        int ret = rtc_get_time(rtc, &rtc_time);
+
+        if (ret == 0) {
+            time_t epochTime = mktime(tm_time);
+
+            if (timer != NULL)
+                *timer = epochTime;
+
+            return epochTime;
+        }
+    }
+    #endif
+
+    /* Fallback to uptime since boot. This works for relative times, but
+     * not for ASN.1 date validation */
     if (clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &ts) == 0)
         if (timer != NULL)
             *timer = ts.tv_sec;
diff --git a/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/wc_port.h b/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/wc_port.h
index c337ae0de..2cd79590e 100644
--- a/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/wc_port.h
+++ b/wolfssl/wolfcrypt/wc_port.h
@@ -985,6 +985,14 @@ WOLFSSL_ABI WOLFSSL_API int wolfCrypt_Cleanup(void);
         #include <time.h>
     #endif
 
+    #if defined(CONFIG_RTC)
+        #if defined(CONFIG_PICOLIBC) || defined(CONFIG_NEWLIB_LIBC)
+            #include <zephyr/drivers/rtc.h>
+        #else
+            #warning "RTC support needs picolibc or newlib (nano)"
+        #endif
+    #endif
+
     time_t z_time(time_t *timer);
 
     #define XTIME(tl)       z_time((tl))