diff --git a/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/ntpd.c b/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/ntpd.c
index f4955903..0a7ab12c 100644
--- a/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/ntpd.c
+++ b/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/ntpd.c
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*	$OpenBSD: ntpd.c,v 1.18 2004/09/18 20:01:38 henning Exp $ */
+/*	$OpenBSD: ntpd.c,v 1.19 2004/09/18 20:27:57 henning Exp $ */
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2003, 2004 Henning Brauer <henning@openbsd.org>
@@ -314,6 +314,10 @@ ntpd_settime(double d)
 	char		buf[80];
 	time_t		tval;
 
+	/* if the offset is small, don't call settimeofday */
+	if (d < SETTIME_MIN_OFFSET && d > -SETTIME_MIN_OFFSET)
+		return;
+
 	d_to_tv(d, &tv);
 	if (gettimeofday(&curtime, NULL) == -1)
 		log_warn("gettimeofday");
diff --git a/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/ntpd.h b/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/ntpd.h
index 19705d8a..ac4cb360 100644
--- a/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/ntpd.h
+++ b/src/usr.sbin/ntpd/ntpd.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/*	$OpenBSD: ntpd.h,v 1.38 2004/09/18 20:01:38 henning Exp $ */
+/*	$OpenBSD: ntpd.h,v 1.39 2004/09/18 20:27:57 henning Exp $ */
 
 /*
  * Copyright (c) 2003, 2004 Henning Brauer <henning@openbsd.org>
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 
 #define	QUERYTIME_MAX		15	/* single query might take n secs max */
 #define	OFFSET_ARRAY_SIZE	8
+#define	SETTIME_MIN_OFFSET	180	/* min offset for settime at start */
 
 enum client_state {
 	STATE_NONE,