diff --git a/lib/zlog.c b/lib/zlog.c
index 1b0751559d..85606d2624 100644
--- a/lib/zlog.c
+++ b/lib/zlog.c
@@ -908,6 +908,11 @@ size_t zlog_msg_ts_3164(struct zlog_msg *msg, struct fbuf *out, uint32_t flags)
 	return bputs(out, msg->ts_3164_str);
 }
 
+void zlog_msg_tsraw(struct zlog_msg *msg, struct timespec *ts)
+{
+	memcpy(ts, &msg->ts, sizeof(*ts));
+}
+
 void zlog_set_prefix_ec(bool enable)
 {
 	atomic_store_explicit(&zlog_ec, enable, memory_order_relaxed);
diff --git a/lib/zlog.h b/lib/zlog.h
index 6e84fe8923..a530c589a8 100644
--- a/lib/zlog.h
+++ b/lib/zlog.h
@@ -183,8 +183,11 @@ extern void zlog_msg_args(struct zlog_msg *msg, size_t *hdrlen,
 /* default is local time zone */
 #define ZLOG_TS_UTC		(1 << 10)
 
+struct timespec;
+
 extern size_t zlog_msg_ts(struct zlog_msg *msg, struct fbuf *out,
 			  uint32_t flags);
+extern void zlog_msg_tsraw(struct zlog_msg *msg, struct timespec *ts);
 
 /* "mmm dd hh:mm:ss" for RFC3164 syslog.  Only ZLOG_TS_UTC for flags. */
 extern size_t zlog_msg_ts_3164(struct zlog_msg *msg, struct fbuf *out,