diff --git a/lib/common.Makefile b/lib/common.Makefile
index c6f7b427e..b62530dae 100644
--- a/lib/common.Makefile
+++ b/lib/common.Makefile
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ $(DAEMONSRCS) $(HASHSRCS):	$(patsubst %,../daemon/%,$(DAEMONSRCS)) $(patsubst %,
 	cat "$<" | sed '/^# /d; s/^##/#/' | \
 		pandoc -s -t man \
 			-M "footer:$(RTPENGINE_VERSION)" \
-			-M "date:$(shell date -I)" \
+			-M "date:$(BUILD_DATE)" \
 			-o "$@"
 
 resample.c codeclib.strhash.c mix.c packet.c:	fix_frame_channel_layout.h
diff --git a/lib/lib.Makefile b/lib/lib.Makefile
index bd90aa5d8..f323ec245 100644
--- a/lib/lib.Makefile
+++ b/lib/lib.Makefile
@@ -64,3 +64,11 @@ ifneq ($(DBG),yes)
     endif
   endif
 endif
+
+
+DATE_FMT = +%Y-%m-%d
+ifdef SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH
+    BUILD_DATE ?= $(shell date -u -d "@$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH)" "$(DATE_FMT)" 2>/dev/null || date -u -r "$(SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH)" "$(DATE_FMT)" 2>/dev/null || date -u "$(DATE_FMT)")
+else
+    BUILD_DATE ?= $(shell date "$(DATE_FMT)")
+endif