diff --git a/core-services/03-console-setup.sh b/core-services/03-console-setup.sh
index 5c8d468..c27a7f9 100644
--- a/core-services/03-console-setup.sh
+++ b/core-services/03-console-setup.sh
@@ -21,6 +21,6 @@ fi
 
 if [ -n "$HARDWARECLOCK" ]; then
     msg "Setting up RTC to '${HARDWARECLOCK}'..."
-    TZ=$TIMEZONE hwclock --systz \
+    eval ${TIMEZONE:+TZ=$TIMEZONE} hwclock --systz \
         ${HARDWARECLOCK:+--$(echo $HARDWARECLOCK |tr A-Z a-z) --noadjfile} || emergency_shell
 fi