diff --git a/src/modules/simulator/simulator_mavlink.cpp b/src/modules/simulator/simulator_mavlink.cpp
index 52f595cd43..7b6b4594f0 100644
--- a/src/modules/simulator/simulator_mavlink.cpp
+++ b/src/modules/simulator/simulator_mavlink.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@
 #include <sys/socket.h>
 #include <netinet/in.h>
 
+extern "C" __EXPORT hrt_abstime hrt_reset(void);
+
 #define SEND_INTERVAL 	20
 #define UDP_PORT 	14560
 #define PIXHAWK_DEVICE "/dev/ttyACM0"
@@ -406,6 +408,8 @@ void Simulator::pollForMAVLinkMessages(bool publish)
 	}
 	PX4_WARN("Found initial message, pret = %d",pret);
 	_initialized = true;
+	// reset system time
+	(void)hrt_reset();
 
 	if (fds[0].revents & POLLIN) {
 		len = recvfrom(_fd, _buf, sizeof(_buf), 0, (struct sockaddr *)&_srcaddr, &_addrlen);
diff --git a/src/platforms/posix/px4_layer/drv_hrt.c b/src/platforms/posix/px4_layer/drv_hrt.c
index 0a45644481..2fbe8cd70a 100644
--- a/src/platforms/posix/px4_layer/drv_hrt.c
+++ b/src/platforms/posix/px4_layer/drv_hrt.c
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ static hrt_abstime px4_timestart = 0;
 static void
 hrt_call_invoke(void);
 
+__EXPORT hrt_abstime hrt_reset(void);
+
 static void hrt_lock(void)
 {
 	//printf("hrt_lock\n");
@@ -128,6 +130,12 @@ hrt_abstime hrt_absolute_time(void)
 	return ts_to_abstime(&ts) - px4_timestart;
 }
 
+__EXPORT hrt_abstime hrt_reset(void)
+{
+	px4_timestart = 0;
+	return hrt_absolute_time();
+}
+
 /*
  * Convert a timespec to absolute time.
  */