diff --git a/src/client/dfuse/pil4dfs/int_dfs.c b/src/client/dfuse/pil4dfs/int_dfs.c
index a7e835d278f..492b7710bc1 100644
--- a/src/client/dfuse/pil4dfs/int_dfs.c
+++ b/src/client/dfuse/pil4dfs/int_dfs.c
@@ -5859,8 +5859,10 @@ utimens_timespec(const char *path, const struct timespec times[2], int flags)
 int
 utimensat(int dirfd, const char *path, const struct timespec times[2], int flags)
 {
-	int  idx_dfs, error = 0, rc;
-	char *full_path = NULL;
+	int              idx_dfs, error = 0, rc;
+	char            *full_path = NULL;
+	struct timespec  times_loc[2];
+	struct timespec *times_ptr;
 
 	if (next_utimensat == NULL) {
 		next_utimensat = dlsym(RTLD_NEXT, "utimensat");
@@ -5878,18 +5880,30 @@ utimensat(int dirfd, const char *path, const struct timespec times[2], int flags
 	}
 	_Pragma("GCC diagnostic pop")
 
+	    /* clang-format off */
+
+	if (times == NULL) {
+		clock_gettime(CLOCK_REALTIME, &times_loc[0]);
+		times_loc[1].tv_sec = times_loc[0].tv_sec;
+		times_loc[1].tv_nsec = times_loc[0].tv_nsec;
+		times_ptr = times_loc;
+	} else {
+		times_ptr = (struct timespec *)times;
+	}
+	/* clang-format on */
+
 	/* absolute path, dirfd is ignored */
 	if (path[0] == '/')
-		return utimens_timespec(path, times, flags);
+		return utimens_timespec(path, times_ptr, flags);
 
 	idx_dfs = check_path_with_dirfd(dirfd, &full_path, path, &error);
 	if (error)
 		goto out_err;
 
 	if (idx_dfs >= 0)
-		rc = utimens_timespec(full_path, times, flags);
+		rc = utimens_timespec(full_path, times_ptr, flags);
 	else
-		rc = next_utimensat(dirfd, path, times, flags);
+		rc = next_utimensat(dirfd, path, times_ptr, flags);
 
 	error = errno;
 	if (full_path) {
diff --git a/src/tests/suite/dfuse_test.c b/src/tests/suite/dfuse_test.c
index 0c53d1f322c..632acf801dc 100644
--- a/src/tests/suite/dfuse_test.c
+++ b/src/tests/suite/dfuse_test.c
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 /**
  * (C) Copyright 2021-2024 Intel Corporation.
+ * (C) Copyright 2026 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP
  *
  * SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-2-Clause-Patent
  */
@@ -516,6 +517,15 @@ do_mtime(void **state)
 	rc = close(fd);
 	assert_return_code(rc, errno);
 
+	usleep(10000);
+	prev_ts.tv_sec  = stbuf.st_mtim.tv_sec;
+	prev_ts.tv_nsec = stbuf.st_mtim.tv_nsec;
+	rc              = utimensat(root, "mtime_file", NULL, 0);
+	assert_return_code(rc, errno);
+	rc = fstatat(root, "mtime_file", &stbuf, 0);
+	assert_return_code(rc, errno);
+	assert_true(timespec_gt(stbuf.st_mtim, prev_ts));
+
 	rc = unlinkat(root, "mtime_file", 0);
 	assert_return_code(rc, errno);