diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index 48c1989..7aa06cc 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -637,6 +637,28 @@ fi
 
 AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_TRACKER_FTS, test "$have_tracker_fts" = "yes")
 
+##################################################################
+# Check if we want log timestamps in UNIX time
+##################################################################
+AC_ARG_ENABLE([unix-timestamps],
+	      AS_HELP_STRING([--enable-unix-timestamps],
+	      [Use UNIX time for log timestamps [[default=no]]]),,
+	      [enable_unix_timestamps=no])
+
+if test "x$enable_unix_timestamps" != "xyes" ; then
+   have_unix_timestamps="no"
+else
+   have_unix_timestamps="yes"
+fi
+
+if test "x$have_unix_timestamps" = "xyes"; then
+   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_UNIX_TIMESTAMPS, [1], [Define to 1 if tracker will use UNIX timestamps])
+else
+   AC_DEFINE(HAVE_UNIX_TIMESTAMPS, [0], [Define to 0 if tracker will not use UNIX timestamps])
+fi
+
+AM_CONDITIONAL(HAVE_UNIX_TIMESTAMPS, test "$have_unix_timestamps" = "yes")
+
 ####################################################################
 # Check for D-Bus requirements
 ####################################################################
@@ -2123,6 +2145,7 @@ Build Configuration:
 	Support for Cyrillic languages (enca):  $have_enca
 	Support for network status detection:   $have_network_manager
 	Unicode support library:                $with_unicode_support
+	UNIX Timestamps:			$have_unix_timestamps
 
 Applications:
 
diff --git a/src/libtracker-common/tracker-log.c b/src/libtracker-common/tracker-log.c
index 057f27b..894bc88 100644
--- a/src/libtracker-common/tracker-log.c
+++ b/src/libtracker-common/tracker-log.c
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 #include <fcntl.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <stdint.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 #include <errno.h>
@@ -48,7 +49,9 @@ log_output (const gchar    *domain,
 	time_t        now;
 	gchar         time_str[64];
 	gchar        *output;
+#if HAVE_UNIX_TIMESTAMPS == 0
 	struct tm    *local_time;
+#endif
 	const gchar  *log_level_str;
 	static gsize  size = 0;
 
@@ -70,8 +73,12 @@ log_output (const gchar    *domain,
 	}
 
 	now = time ((time_t *) NULL);
+#if HAVE_UNIX_TIMESTAMPS == 1
+	snprintf (time_str, 64, "%jd:", (intmax_t) now);
+#else
 	local_time = localtime (&now);
 	strftime (time_str, 64, "%d %b %Y, %H:%M:%S:", local_time);
+#endif
 
 	switch (log_level) {
 	case G_LOG_LEVEL_WARNING: