diff --git a/src/mod_time.erl b/src/mod_time.erl
index a8a43c0ab..e96c0ea72 100644
--- a/src/mod_time.erl
+++ b/src/mod_time.erl
@@ -76,7 +76,13 @@ process_local_iq(_From, _To, #iq{type = Type, sub_el = SubEl} = IQ) ->
 	    {UTC, UTC_diff} = jlib:timestamp_to_iso(Now_universal, utc),
 	    Seconds_diff = calendar:datetime_to_gregorian_seconds(Now_local)
 	     - calendar:datetime_to_gregorian_seconds(Now_universal),
-	    {Hd, Md, _} = calendar:seconds_to_time(Seconds_diff),
+            {Hd, Md, _} = case Seconds_diff >= 0 of
+			      true ->
+				  calendar:seconds_to_time(Seconds_diff);
+			      false ->
+				  {Hd0, Md0, Sd0} = calendar:seconds_to_time(-Seconds_diff),
+				  {-Hd0, Md0, Sd0}
+			  end,
 	    {_, TZO_diff} = jlib:timestamp_to_iso({{0, 0, 0}, {0, 0, 0}}, {Hd, Md}),
 	    IQ#iq{type = result,
 		  sub_el = [{xmlelement, "time",