diff --git a/src/core/clock-warp.c b/src/core/clock-warp.c
index eff06ea1b8e..8957d61b8b7 100644
--- a/src/core/clock-warp.c
+++ b/src/core/clock-warp.c
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ int clock_reset_timewarp(void) {
         return RET_NERRNO(settimeofday(NULL, &tz));
 }
 
-void clock_apply_epoch(void) {
+void clock_apply_epoch(bool allow_backwards) {
         usec_t epoch_usec = 0, timesyncd_usec = 0;
         struct stat st;
         int r;
@@ -47,7 +47,9 @@ void clock_apply_epoch(void) {
 
         if (now_usec < epoch_usec)
                 advance = true;
-        else if (CLOCK_VALID_RANGE_USEC_MAX > 0 && now_usec > usec_add(epoch_usec, CLOCK_VALID_RANGE_USEC_MAX))
+        else if (CLOCK_VALID_RANGE_USEC_MAX > 0 &&
+                 now_usec > usec_add(epoch_usec, CLOCK_VALID_RANGE_USEC_MAX) &&
+                 allow_backwards)
                 advance = false;
         else
                 return;  /* Nothing to do. */
diff --git a/src/core/clock-warp.h b/src/core/clock-warp.h
index 78a8093b744..402c7eee042 100644
--- a/src/core/clock-warp.h
+++ b/src/core/clock-warp.h
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 /* SPDX-License-Identifier: LGPL-2.1-or-later */
 #pragma once
 
+#include <stdbool.h>
+
 int clock_reset_timewarp(void);
-void clock_apply_epoch(void);
+void clock_apply_epoch(bool allow_backwards);
diff --git a/src/core/main.c b/src/core/main.c
index 23b6a1119a0..3422bac1555 100644
--- a/src/core/main.c
+++ b/src/core/main.c
@@ -1671,7 +1671,7 @@ static int become_shutdown(int objective, int retval) {
         return -errno;
 }
 
-static void initialize_clock(void) {
+static void initialize_clock_timewarp(void) {
         int r;
 
         /* This is called very early on, before we parse the kernel command line or otherwise figure out why
@@ -1683,7 +1683,7 @@ static void initialize_clock(void) {
                 /* The very first call of settimeofday() also does a time warp in the kernel.
                  *
                  * In the rtc-in-local time mode, we set the kernel's timezone, and rely on external tools to
-                 * take care of maintaining the RTC and do all adjustments.  This matches the behavior of
+                 * take care of maintaining the RTC and do all adjustments. This matches the behavior of
                  * Windows, which leaves the RTC alone if the registry tells that the RTC runs in UTC.
                  */
                 r = clock_set_timezone(&min);
@@ -1705,13 +1705,11 @@ static void initialize_clock(void) {
                  * time concepts will be treated as UTC that way.
                  */
                 (void) clock_reset_timewarp();
-
-        clock_apply_epoch();
 }
 
 static void apply_clock_update(void) {
-        /* This is called later than initialize_clock(), i.e. after we parsed configuration files/kernel
-         * command line and such. */
+        /* This is called later than clock_apply_epoch(), i.e. after we have parsed
+         * configuration files/kernel command line and such. */
 
         if (arg_clock_usec == 0)
                 return;
@@ -3038,7 +3036,9 @@ int main(int argc, char *argv[]) {
                         }
 
                         if (!skip_setup)
-                                initialize_clock();
+                                initialize_clock_timewarp();
+
+                        clock_apply_epoch(/* allow_backwards= */ !skip_setup);
 
                         /* Set the default for later on, but don't actually open the logs like this for
                          * now. Note that if we are transitioning from the initrd there might still be