diff --git a/src/configure.ac b/src/configure.ac
index 6785180..dccf3dc 100644
--- a/src/configure.ac
+++ b/src/configure.ac
@@ -62,6 +62,18 @@
   fi
 fi
 
+dnl If $SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH is present in the environment, use that as the
+dnl "compiled" timestamp in :version's output.  Attempt to get the formatted
+dnl date using GNU date syntax, BSD date syntax, and finally falling back to
+dnl just using the current time.
+if test -n "$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH"; then
+  DATE_FMT="%b %d %Y %H:%M:%S"
+  BUILD_DATE=$(LC_ALL=C date -u -d "@$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH" "+$DATE_FMT" 2>/dev/null || LC_ALL=C date -u -r "$SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH" "+$DATE_FMT" 2>/dev/null || LC_ALL=C date -u "+$DATE_FMT")
+  AC_DEFINE_UNQUOTED(BUILD_DATE, ["$BUILD_DATE"])
+  BUILD_DATE_MSG=-"echo -e '=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=\nNOTE: build date/time is fixed: $BUILD_DATE\n=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-='"
+  AC_SUBST(BUILD_DATE_MSG)
+fi
+
 dnl Check for the flag that fails if stuff are missing.
 
 AC_MSG_CHECKING(--enable-fail-if-missing argument)