diff --git a/usr/local/etc/bastille/bastille.conf.sample b/usr/local/etc/bastille/bastille.conf.sample
index 22653b35..de98f406 100644
--- a/usr/local/etc/bastille/bastille.conf.sample
+++ b/usr/local/etc/bastille/bastille.conf.sample
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ bastille_sharedir="/usr/local/share/bastille"                         ## default
 bastille_bootstrap_archives="base"                                    ## default: "base"
 
 ## default timezone
-bastille_tzdata="Etc/UTC"                                             ## default: "Etc/UTC"
+bastille_tzdata=""                                                    ## default: empty to use host's time zone
 
 ## default jail resolv.conf
 bastille_resolv_conf="/etc/resolv.conf"                               ## default: "/etc/resolv.conf"
diff --git a/usr/local/share/bastille/create.sh b/usr/local/share/bastille/create.sh
index d10eedd8..d1dc2332 100644
--- a/usr/local/share/bastille/create.sh
+++ b/usr/local/share/bastille/create.sh
@@ -440,8 +440,13 @@ create_jail() {
                 ln -s usr/home home
             fi
 
-            ## TZ: configurable (default: Etc/UTC)
-            ln -s "/usr/share/zoneinfo/${bastille_tzdata}" etc/localtime
+            ## TZ: configurable (default: empty to use host's time zone)
+            if [ -z "${bastille_tzdata}" ]; then
+                # uses cp as a way to prevent issues with symlinks if the host happens to use that for tz configuration
+                cp /etc/localtime etc/localtime
+            else
+                ln -s "/usr/share/zoneinfo/${bastille_tzdata}" etc/localtime
+            fi
 
             # Post-creation jail misc configuration
             # Create a dummy fstab file