diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
index 8d5960e3e8..a6a9d75766 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.c
@@ -1156,6 +1156,9 @@ static unsigned long long qemudComputeCmdFlags(const char *help,
         flags |= QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_BALLOON;
     if (strstr(help, "-device"))
         flags |= QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DEVICE;
+    /* The trailing ' ' is important to avoid a bogus match */
+    if (strstr(help, "-rtc "))
+        flags |= QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_RTC;
     /* Keep disabled till we're actually ready to turn on netdev mode
      * The plan is todo it in 0.13.0 QEMU, but lets wait & see... */
 #if 0
@@ -3057,6 +3060,56 @@ error:
 }
 
 
+static char *
+qemuBuildClockArgStr(virDomainClockDefPtr def)
+{
+    virBuffer buf = VIR_BUFFER_INITIALIZER;
+
+    switch (def->offset) {
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_UTC:
+        virBufferAddLit(&buf, "base=utc");
+        break;
+
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_LOCALTIME:
+        virBufferAddLit(&buf, "base=localtime");
+        break;
+
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_VARIABLE: {
+        time_t now = time(NULL);
+        struct tm nowbits;
+
+        now += def->data.adjustment;
+        gmtime_r(&now, &nowbits);
+
+        virBufferVSprintf(&buf, "base=%d-%d-%dT%d:%d:%d",
+                          nowbits.tm_year + 1900,
+                          nowbits.tm_mon,
+                          nowbits.tm_mday,
+                          nowbits.tm_hour,
+                          nowbits.tm_min,
+                          nowbits.tm_sec);
+    }   break;
+
+    default:
+        qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                        _("unsupported clock offset '%s'"),
+                        virDomainClockOffsetTypeToString(def->offset));
+        goto error;
+    }
+
+    if (virBufferError(&buf)) {
+        virReportOOMError();
+        goto error;
+    }
+
+    return virBufferContentAndReset(&buf);
+
+error:
+    virBufferFreeAndReset(&buf);
+    return NULL;
+}
+
+
 static int
 qemuBuildCpuArgStr(const struct qemud_driver *driver,
                    const virDomainDefPtr def,
@@ -3488,13 +3541,28 @@ int qemudBuildCommandLine(virConnectPtr conn,
         }
     }
 
-    if (def->clock.offset == VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_LOCALTIME)
-        ADD_ARG_LIT("-localtime");
-    else if (def->clock.offset != VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_UTC) {
-        qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
-                        _("unsupported clock offset '%s'"),
-                        virDomainClockOffsetTypeToString(def->clock.offset));
-        goto error;
+    if (qemuCmdFlags & QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_RTC) {
+        const char *rtcopt;
+        ADD_ARG_LIT("-rtc");
+        if (!(rtcopt = qemuBuildClockArgStr(&def->clock)))
+            goto error;
+        ADD_ARG(rtcopt);
+    } else {
+        switch (def->clock.offset) {
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_LOCALTIME:
+            ADD_ARG_LIT("-localtime");
+            break;
+
+        case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_UTC:
+            /* Nothing, its the default */
+            break;
+
+        default:
+            qemuReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
+                            _("unsupported clock offset '%s'"),
+                            virDomainClockOffsetTypeToString(def->clock.offset));
+            goto error;
+        }
     }
 
     if ((qemuCmdFlags & QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_NO_REBOOT) &&
diff --git a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
index c8757c53a1..1821252d62 100644
--- a/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
+++ b/src/qemu/qemu_conf.h
@@ -82,6 +82,7 @@ enum qemud_cmd_flags {
     QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_SDL           = (1 << 27), /* Is the new -sdl arg available */
     QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_SMP_TOPOLOGY  = (1 << 28), /* Is sockets=s,cores=c,threads=t available for -smp? */
     QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_NETDEV        = (1 << 29), /* The -netdev flag & netdev_add/remove monitor commands */
+    QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_RTC           = (1 << 30), /* The -rtc flag for clock options */
 };
 
 /* Main driver state */
diff --git a/tests/qemuhelptest.c b/tests/qemuhelptest.c
index ad355d7eb9..e61f4e2de7 100644
--- a/tests/qemuhelptest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuhelptest.c
@@ -226,7 +226,8 @@ mymain(int argc, char **argv)
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_CHARDEV |
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_BALLOON |
             QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DEVICE |
-            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_SMP_TOPOLOGY,
+            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_SMP_TOPOLOGY |
+            QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_RTC,
             12001, 0,  0);
 
     return ret == 0 ? EXIT_SUCCESS : EXIT_FAILURE;
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-clock-variable.args b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-clock-variable.args
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..09a91979e6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-clock-variable.args
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+LC_ALL=C PATH=/bin HOME=/home/test USER=test LOGNAME=test /usr/bin/qemu -S -M pc -m 214 -smp 1 -nographic -monitor unix:/tmp/test-monitor,server,nowait -rtc base=2010-2-2T18:22:10 -no-acpi -boot c -hda /dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1 -net none -serial none -parallel none -usb
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-clock-variable.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-clock-variable.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..fa20b27374
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/qemuxml2argv-clock-variable.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory>219200</memory>
+  <currentMemory>219200</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='i686' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='variable' adjustment='123456'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='disk'>
+      <source dev='/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1'/>
+      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
index a8c9ed3ff0..6525daec94 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvtest.c
@@ -226,6 +226,10 @@ mymain(int argc, char **argv)
     DO_TEST("bootloader", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DOMID);
     DO_TEST("clock-utc", 0);
     DO_TEST("clock-localtime", 0);
+    /*
+     * Can't be enabled since the absolute timestamp changes every time
+    DO_TEST("clock-variable", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_RTC);
+    */
     DO_TEST("hugepages", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_MEM_PATH);
     DO_TEST("disk-cdrom", 0);
     DO_TEST("disk-cdrom-empty", QEMUD_CMD_FLAG_DRIVE);