diff --git a/swift/common/daemon.py b/swift/common/daemon.py
index 39fc66c805..67004fe51d 100644
--- a/swift/common/daemon.py
+++ b/swift/common/daemon.py
@@ -109,10 +109,9 @@ def run_daemon(klass, conf_file, section_name='', once=False, **kwargs):
     eventlet.debug.hub_exceptions(eventlet_debug)
 
     # Ensure TZ environment variable exists to avoid stat('/etc/localtime') on
-    # some platforms. This locks in reported times to the timezone in which
-    # the server first starts running in locations that periodically change
-    # timezones.
-    os.environ['TZ'] = time.strftime("%z", time.gmtime())
+    # some platforms. This locks in reported times to UTC.
+    os.environ['TZ'] = 'UTC+0'
+    time.tzset()
 
     try:
         klass(conf).run(once=once, **kwargs)
diff --git a/swift/common/wsgi.py b/swift/common/wsgi.py
index fb33fdb720..341f360e02 100644
--- a/swift/common/wsgi.py
+++ b/swift/common/wsgi.py
@@ -398,10 +398,9 @@ def loadapp(conf_file, global_conf=None, allow_modify_pipeline=True):
 
 def run_server(conf, logger, sock, global_conf=None):
     # Ensure TZ environment variable exists to avoid stat('/etc/localtime') on
-    # some platforms. This locks in reported times to the timezone in which
-    # the server first starts running in locations that periodically change
-    # timezones.
-    os.environ['TZ'] = time.strftime("%z", time.gmtime())
+    # some platforms. This locks in reported times to UTC.
+    os.environ['TZ'] = 'UTC+0'
+    time.tzset()
 
     wsgi.HttpProtocol.default_request_version = "HTTP/1.0"
     # Turn off logging requests by the underlying WSGI software.
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_daemon.py b/test/unit/common/test_daemon.py
index 92376ad8b2..24220c1729 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_daemon.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_daemon.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 import os
 from six import StringIO
 from six.moves import reload_module
+import time
 import unittest
 from getpass import getuser
 import logging
@@ -104,9 +105,11 @@ class TestRunDaemon(unittest.TestCase):
         sample_conf = "[my-daemon]\nuser = %s\n" % getuser()
         with tmpfile(sample_conf) as conf_file:
             with mock.patch.dict('os.environ', {'TZ': ''}):
-                daemon.run_daemon(MyDaemon, conf_file)
-                self.assertEqual(MyDaemon.forever_called, True)
-                self.assertTrue(os.environ['TZ'] is not '')
+                with mock.patch('time.tzset') as mock_tzset:
+                    daemon.run_daemon(MyDaemon, conf_file)
+                    self.assertTrue(MyDaemon.forever_called)
+                    self.assertEqual(os.environ['TZ'], 'UTC+0')
+                    self.assertEqual(mock_tzset.mock_calls, [mock.call()])
             daemon.run_daemon(MyDaemon, conf_file, once=True)
             self.assertEqual(MyDaemon.once_called, True)
 
@@ -133,6 +136,28 @@ class TestRunDaemon(unittest.TestCase):
                                         daemon.run_daemon, MyDaemon,
                                         conf_file, once=True)
 
+    def test_run_daemon_diff_tz(self):
+        old_tz = os.environ.get('TZ', '')
+        try:
+            os.environ['TZ'] = 'EST+05EDT,M4.1.0,M10.5.0'
+            time.tzset()
+            self.assertEqual((1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0), time.gmtime(0)[:6])
+            self.assertEqual((1969, 12, 31, 19, 0, 0), time.localtime(0)[:6])
+            self.assertEqual(18000, time.timezone)
+
+            sample_conf = "[my-daemon]\nuser = %s\n" % getuser()
+            with tmpfile(sample_conf) as conf_file:
+                daemon.run_daemon(MyDaemon, conf_file)
+                self.assertFalse(MyDaemon.once_called)
+                self.assertTrue(MyDaemon.forever_called)
+
+            self.assertEqual((1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0), time.gmtime(0)[:6])
+            self.assertEqual((1970, 1, 1, 0, 0, 0), time.localtime(0)[:6])
+            self.assertEqual(0, time.timezone)
+        finally:
+            os.environ['TZ'] = old_tz
+            time.tzset()
+
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     unittest.main()
diff --git a/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py b/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py
index d63e0975d6..93e7725cda 100644
--- a/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py
+++ b/test/unit/common/test_wsgi.py
@@ -469,11 +469,14 @@ class TestWSGI(unittest.TestCase):
                     with mock.patch('swift.common.wsgi.eventlet') as _eventlet:
                         with mock.patch.dict('os.environ', {'TZ': ''}):
                             with mock.patch('swift.common.wsgi.inspect'):
-                                conf = wsgi.appconfig(conf_dir)
-                                logger = logging.getLogger('test')
-                                sock = listen(('localhost', 0))
-                                wsgi.run_server(conf, logger, sock)
-                                self.assertTrue(os.environ['TZ'] is not '')
+                                with mock.patch('time.tzset') as mock_tzset:
+                                    conf = wsgi.appconfig(conf_dir)
+                                    logger = logging.getLogger('test')
+                                    sock = listen(('localhost', 0))
+                                    wsgi.run_server(conf, logger, sock)
+                                    self.assertEqual(os.environ['TZ'], 'UTC+0')
+                                    self.assertEqual(mock_tzset.mock_calls,
+                                                     [mock.call()])
 
         self.assertEqual('HTTP/1.0',
                          _wsgi.HttpProtocol.default_request_version)