diff --git a/docs/formatdomain.rst b/docs/formatdomain.rst
index c1e99951a6..c132d2abbb 100644
--- a/docs/formatdomain.rst
+++ b/docs/formatdomain.rst
@@ -2170,6 +2170,11 @@ Windows, however, expects it to be in so called 'localtime'.
       the RTC adjustments are lost at each reboot. :since:`Since 0.7.7`
       :since:`Since 0.9.11` the ``basis`` attribute can be either 'utc'
       (default) or 'localtime'.
+   ``absolute``
+      The guest clock will be always set to the value of the ``start``
+      attribute at startup of the domain. The ``start`` attribute takes an
+      epoch timestamp.
+      :since:`Since 8.4.0`.
 
    A ``clock`` may have zero or more ``timer`` sub-elements. :since:`Since
    0.8.0`
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.c b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
index 70562cc993..1167e06f09 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.c
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.c
@@ -1172,6 +1172,7 @@ VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainClockOffset,
               "localtime",
               "variable",
               "timezone",
+              "absolute",
 );
 
 VIR_ENUM_IMPL(virDomainClockBasis,
@@ -19459,6 +19460,15 @@ virDomainDefClockParse(virDomainDef *def,
             return -1;
         }
         break;
+
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_ABSOLUTE:
+        if (virXPathULongLong("number(./clock/@start)", ctxt,
+                              &def->clock.data.starttime) < 0) {
+            virReportError(VIR_ERR_INTERNAL_ERROR, "%s",
+                           _("missing 'start' attribute for clock with offset='absolute'"));
+            return -1;
+        }
+        break;
     }
 
     if ((n = virXPathNodeSet("./clock/timer", ctxt, &nodes)) < 0)
@@ -26263,6 +26273,9 @@ virDomainClockDefFormat(virBuffer *buf,
     case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_TIMEZONE:
         virBufferEscapeString(&clockAttr, " timezone='%s'", def->data.timezone);
         break;
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_ABSOLUTE:
+        virBufferAsprintf(&clockAttr, " start='%llu'", def->data.starttime);
+        break;
     }
 
     for (n = 0; n < def->ntimers; n++) {
diff --git a/src/conf/domain_conf.h b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
index 2e2da0c69c..4e9790b385 100644
--- a/src/conf/domain_conf.h
+++ b/src/conf/domain_conf.h
@@ -2453,6 +2453,7 @@ typedef enum {
     VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_LOCALTIME = 1,
     VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_VARIABLE = 2,
     VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_TIMEZONE = 3,
+    VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_ABSOLUTE = 4,
 
     VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_LAST
 } virDomainClockOffsetType;
@@ -2487,6 +2488,9 @@ struct _virDomainClockDef {
         /* Timezone name, when
          * offset == VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_LOCALTIME */
         char *timezone;
+
+        /* absolute clock start time for VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_ABSOLUTE */
+        unsigned long long starttime;
     } data;
 
     size_t ntimers;
diff --git a/src/conf/schemas/domaincommon.rng b/src/conf/schemas/domaincommon.rng
index 2544864eb4..35c973c354 100644
--- a/src/conf/schemas/domaincommon.rng
+++ b/src/conf/schemas/domaincommon.rng
@@ -1252,6 +1252,14 @@
               </attribute>
             </optional>
           </group>
+          <group>
+            <attribute name="offset">
+              <value>absolute</value>
+            </attribute>
+            <attribute name="start">
+              <ref name="unsignedInt"/>
+            </attribute>
+          </group>
         </choice>
         <zeroOrMore>
           <ref name="timer"/>
diff --git a/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c b/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c
index e5fe209718..a96dd09e80 100644
--- a/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c
+++ b/src/libxl/libxl_conf.c
@@ -391,6 +391,7 @@ libxlMakeDomBuildInfo(virDomainDef *def,
                        virDomainClockOffsetTypeToString(clock.offset));
         return -1;
 
+    case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_ABSOLUTE:
     case VIR_DOMAIN_CLOCK_OFFSET_LAST:
     default:
         virReportError(VIR_ERR_CONFIG_UNSUPPORTED,
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/clock-absolute.xml b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/clock-absolute.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e79f53ed3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2argvdata/clock-absolute.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219100</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219100</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='x86_64' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <clock offset='absolute' start='1234'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='disk'>
+      <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>
+      <source dev='/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1'/>
+      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'/>
+    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
+    <input type='mouse' bus='ps2'/>
+    <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'/>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2xmloutdata/clock-absolute.x86_64-latest.xml b/tests/qemuxml2xmloutdata/clock-absolute.x86_64-latest.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b313a74039
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2xmloutdata/clock-absolute.x86_64-latest.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+<domain type='qemu'>
+  <name>QEMUGuest1</name>
+  <uuid>c7a5fdbd-edaf-9455-926a-d65c16db1809</uuid>
+  <memory unit='KiB'>219100</memory>
+  <currentMemory unit='KiB'>219100</currentMemory>
+  <vcpu placement='static'>1</vcpu>
+  <os>
+    <type arch='x86_64' machine='pc'>hvm</type>
+    <boot dev='hd'/>
+  </os>
+  <cpu mode='custom' match='exact' check='none'>
+    <model fallback='forbid'>qemu64</model>
+  </cpu>
+  <clock offset='absolute' start='1234'/>
+  <on_poweroff>destroy</on_poweroff>
+  <on_reboot>restart</on_reboot>
+  <on_crash>destroy</on_crash>
+  <devices>
+    <emulator>/usr/bin/qemu-system-x86_64</emulator>
+    <disk type='block' device='disk'>
+      <driver name='qemu' type='raw'/>
+      <source dev='/dev/HostVG/QEMUGuest1'/>
+      <target dev='hda' bus='ide'/>
+      <address type='drive' controller='0' bus='0' target='0' unit='0'/>
+    </disk>
+    <controller type='usb' index='0' model='piix3-uhci'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x2'/>
+    </controller>
+    <controller type='ide' index='0'>
+      <address type='pci' domain='0x0000' bus='0x00' slot='0x01' function='0x1'/>
+    </controller>
+    <controller type='pci' index='0' model='pci-root'/>
+    <input type='mouse' bus='ps2'/>
+    <input type='keyboard' bus='ps2'/>
+    <audio id='1' type='none'/>
+    <memballoon model='none'/>
+  </devices>
+</domain>
diff --git a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
index a8e1cb2400..0b2cb0bb2f 100644
--- a/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
+++ b/tests/qemuxml2xmltest.c
@@ -276,6 +276,7 @@ mymain(void)
     DO_TEST_NOCAPS("clock-timer-hyperv-rtc");
     DO_TEST_CAPS_ARCH_LATEST("clock-timer-armvtimer", "aarch64");
     DO_TEST_NOCAPS("clock-realtime");
+    DO_TEST_CAPS_LATEST("clock-absolute");
 
     DO_TEST_NOCAPS("cpu-eoi-disabled");
     DO_TEST_NOCAPS("cpu-eoi-enabled");