diff --git a/package/base-files/files/etc/init.d/system b/package/base-files/files/etc/init.d/system
index 0e33c522b4..08cf86b97f 100755
--- a/package/base-files/files/etc/init.d/system
+++ b/package/base-files/files/etc/init.d/system
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ system_config() {
 		ln -sf "/usr/share/zoneinfo/$zonename" /tmp/localtime && rm -f /tmp/TZ
 
 	# apply timezone to kernel
-	busybox date -k
+	hwclock -u --systz
 }
 
 reload_service() {