diff --git a/package/tz/tz.mk b/package/tz/tz.mk
index 6b1f9f4d24..7386361088 100644
--- a/package/tz/tz.mk
+++ b/package/tz/tz.mk
@@ -25,15 +25,12 @@ define TZ_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
 		$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/iso3166.tab
 	mkdir -p $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc
 	cp -a $(@D)/output/* $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc
-	if [ -n "$(TZ_LOCALTIME)" ]; then \
-		if [ ! -f $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc/$(TZ_LOCALTIME) ]; then \
-			printf "Error: '%s' is not a valid timezone, check your BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME setting\n" \
-				"$(TZ_LOCALTIME)"; \
-			exit 1; \
-		fi; \
-		cd $(TARGET_DIR)/etc; \
-		ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc/$(TZ_LOCALTIME) TZ; \
+	if [ ! -f $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc/$(TZ_LOCALTIME) ]; then \
+		printf "Error: '%s' is not a valid timezone, check your BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME setting\n" \
+			"$(TZ_LOCALTIME)"; \
+		exit 1; \
 	fi
+	ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc/$(TZ_LOCALTIME) $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/TZ
 endef
 
 $(eval $(generic-package))
diff --git a/package/tzdata/tzdata.mk b/package/tzdata/tzdata.mk
index 802d8479a3..8c8d224e4f 100644
--- a/package/tzdata/tzdata.mk
+++ b/package/tzdata/tzdata.mk
@@ -36,16 +36,13 @@ define TZDATA_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
 	for zone in posix/*; do \
 	    ln -sfn "$${zone}" "$${zone##*/}"; \
 	done
-	if [ -n "$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME)" ]; then \
-	    if [ ! -f $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME) ]; then \
-	        printf "Error: '%s' is not a valid timezone, check your BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME setting\n" \
-	               "$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME)"; \
-	        exit 1; \
-	    fi; \
-	    cd $(TARGET_DIR)/etc; \
-	    ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME) localtime; \
-	    echo "$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME)" >timezone; \
+	if [ ! -f $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME) ]; then \
+		printf "Error: '%s' is not a valid timezone, check your BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME setting\n" \
+			"$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME)"; \
+		exit 1; \
 	fi
+	ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME) $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/localtime
+	echo "$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME)" >$(TARGET_DIR)/etc/timezone
 endef
 
 define HOST_TZDATA_BUILD_CMDS
diff --git a/system/Config.in b/system/Config.in
index b47ae43844..858883955e 100644
--- a/system/Config.in
+++ b/system/Config.in
@@ -448,15 +448,13 @@ config BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME
 	help
 	  The time zone to install as the default local time, expressed as a
 	  tzdata location, such as:
+	    Etc/UTC             (the default)
 	    GMT
 	    Europe/Paris
 	    America/New_York
 	    Pacific/Wallis
 	    ...
 
-	  If empty, no local time will be set, and the dates will be
-	  expressed in UTC.
-
 endif # BR2_TARGET_TZ_INFO
 
 config BR2_ROOTFS_USERS_TABLES