diff --git a/gc.c b/gc.c
index 25676918..cdfd407b 100644
--- a/gc.c
+++ b/gc.c
@@ -42,13 +42,16 @@ void *GC_thread(void *val)
 			mintime -= mintime % 3600;
 			mintime += 3600;
 
-			if(config.debug & DEBUG_GC) timer_start(GC_TIMER);
-
-			int removed = 0;
-			char ctimebuffer[32]; // need at least 26 bytes according to ctime_r man page
-			if(config.debug & DEBUG_GC) logg("GC starting, mintime: %lu %s", mintime, ctime_r(&mintime, ctimebuffer));
+			if(config.debug & DEBUG_GC)
+			{
+				timer_start(GC_TIMER);
+				char timestring[84] = "";
+				get_timestr(timestring, mintime);
+				logg("GC starting, mintime: %s (%lu)", timestring, mintime);
+			}
 
 			// Process all queries
+			int removed = 0;
 			for(long int i=0; i < counters->queries; i++)
 			{
 				queriesData* query = getQuery(i, true);
diff --git a/log.c b/log.c
index 64340e8f..1d617b47 100644
--- a/log.c
+++ b/log.c
@@ -50,11 +50,10 @@ void open_FTL_log(const bool test)
 	}
 }
 
-static void get_timestr(char *timestring)
+void get_timestr(char *timestring, const time_t timein)
 {
-	const time_t t = time(NULL);
 	struct tm tm;
-	localtime_r(&t, &tm);
+	localtime_r(&timein, &tm);
 
 	struct timeval tv;
 	gettimeofday(&tv, NULL);
@@ -70,7 +69,7 @@ void __attribute__ ((format (gnu_printf, 1, 2))) logg(const char *format, ...)
 
 	pthread_mutex_lock(&lock);
 
-	get_timestr(timestring);
+	get_timestr(timestring, time(NULL));
 
 	// Get and log PID of current process to avoid ambiguities when more than one
 	// pihole-FTL instance is logging into the same file
diff --git a/routines.h b/routines.h
index 45370413..c5673641 100644
--- a/routines.h
+++ b/routines.h
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ void logg(const char* format, ...) __attribute__ ((format (gnu_printf, 1, 2)));
 void log_counter_info(void);
 void format_memory_size(char *prefix, unsigned long int bytes, double *formated);
 void log_FTL_version(bool crashreport);
+void get_timestr(char *timestring, const time_t timein);
 
 // datastructure.c
 void strtolower(char *str);