diff --git a/src/timedate/timedated.c b/src/timedate/timedated.c
index e57471f216..e9c0c56d3a 100644
--- a/src/timedate/timedated.c
+++ b/src/timedate/timedated.c
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ static int context_write_data_timezone(Context *c) {
         }
 
         return symlinkat_atomic_full(source, AT_FDCWD, etc_localtime(),
-                                     !secure_getenv("SYSTEMD_ETC_LOCALTIME"));
+                                     !secure_getenv("SYSTEMD_ETC_LOCALTIME") ? SYMLINK_MAKE_RELATIVE : 0);
 }
 
 static const char* etc_adjtime(void) {