diff --git a/cmds/screenrecord/Overlay.cpp b/cmds/screenrecord/Overlay.cpp
index 9fd192c..be993e0 100644
--- a/cmds/screenrecord/Overlay.cpp
+++ b/cmds/screenrecord/Overlay.cpp
@@ -259,6 +259,11 @@
     const char* format = "%T";
     struct tm tm;
 
+    if (mUseMonotonicTimestamps) {
+        snprintf(buf, bufLen, "%" PRId64, monotonicNsec);
+        return;
+    }
+
     // localtime/strftime is not the fastest way to do this, but a trivial
     // benchmark suggests that the cost is negligible.
     int64_t realTime = mStartRealtimeNsecs +
diff --git a/cmds/screenrecord/Overlay.h b/cmds/screenrecord/Overlay.h
index ee3444d..1d8a569 100644
--- a/cmds/screenrecord/Overlay.h
+++ b/cmds/screenrecord/Overlay.h
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
  */
 class Overlay : public GLConsumer::FrameAvailableListener, Thread {
 public:
-    Overlay() : Thread(false),
+    Overlay(bool monotonicTimestamps) : Thread(false),
         mThreadResult(UNKNOWN_ERROR),
         mState(UNINITIALIZED),
         mFrameAvailable(false),
@@ -45,7 +45,8 @@
         mStartMonotonicNsecs(0),
         mStartRealtimeNsecs(0),
         mLastFrameNumber(-1),
-        mTotalDroppedFrames(0)
+        mTotalDroppedFrames(0),
+        mUseMonotonicTimestamps(monotonicTimestamps)
         {}
 
     // Creates a thread that performs the overlay.  Pass in the surface that
@@ -151,6 +152,8 @@
     nsecs_t mLastFrameNumber;
     size_t mTotalDroppedFrames;
 
+    bool mUseMonotonicTimestamps;
+
     static const char* kPropertyNames[];
 };
 
diff --git a/cmds/screenrecord/screenrecord.cpp b/cmds/screenrecord/screenrecord.cpp
index 59d5661..a7eace1 100644
--- a/cmds/screenrecord/screenrecord.cpp
+++ b/cmds/screenrecord/screenrecord.cpp
@@ -68,6 +68,7 @@
 // Command-line parameters.
 static bool gVerbose = false;           // chatty on stdout
 static bool gRotate = false;            // rotate 90 degrees
+static bool gMonotonicTime = false;     // use system monotonic time for timestamps
 static enum {
     FORMAT_MP4, FORMAT_H264, FORMAT_FRAMES, FORMAT_RAW_FRAMES
 } gOutputFormat = FORMAT_MP4;           // data format for output
@@ -609,7 +610,7 @@
     sp<Overlay> overlay;
     if (gWantFrameTime) {
         // Send virtual display frames to an external texture.
-        overlay = new Overlay();
+        overlay = new Overlay(gMonotonicTime);
         err = overlay->start(encoderInputSurface, &bufferProducer);
         if (err != NO_ERROR) {
             if (encoder != NULL) encoder->release();
@@ -892,6 +893,7 @@
         { "show-frame-time",    no_argument,        NULL, 'f' },
         { "rotate",             no_argument,        NULL, 'r' },
         { "output-format",      required_argument,  NULL, 'o' },
+        { "monotonic-time",     no_argument,        NULL, 'm' },
         { NULL,                 0,                  NULL, 0 }
     };
 
@@ -971,6 +973,9 @@
                 return 2;
             }
             break;
+        case 'm':
+            gMonotonicTime = true;
+            break;
         default:
             if (ic != '?') {
                 fprintf(stderr, "getopt_long returned unexpected value 0x%x\n", ic);