diff --git a/doc/configuration.txt b/doc/configuration.txt
index eab6827..58e4fa5 100644
--- a/doc/configuration.txt
+++ b/doc/configuration.txt
@@ -8801,6 +8801,12 @@
   then this fetch clearly does not make sense, in which case the value returned
   will be -1.
 
+date([<offset>]) : integer
+  Returns the current date as the epoch (number of seconds since 01/01/1970).
+  If an offset value is specified, then it is a number of seconds that is added
+  to the current date before returning the value. This is particularly useful
+  to compute relative dates, as both positive and negative offsets are allowed.
+
 env(<name>) : string
   Returns a string containing the value of environment variable <name>. As a
   reminder, environment variables are per-process and are sampled when the
diff --git a/src/sample.c b/src/sample.c
index 6072392..f8fa717 100644
--- a/src/sample.c
+++ b/src/sample.c
@@ -1125,6 +1125,24 @@
 	return 1;
 }
 
+/* retrieve the current local date in epoch time, and applies an optional offset
+ * of args[0] seconds.
+ */
+static int
+smp_fetch_date(struct proxy *px, struct session *s, void *l7, unsigned int opt,
+               const struct arg *args, struct sample *smp)
+{
+	smp->data.uint = date.tv_sec;
+
+	/* add offset */
+	if (args && (args[0].type == ARGT_SINT || args[0].type == ARGT_UINT))
+		smp->data.uint += args[0].data.sint;
+
+	smp->type = SMP_T_UINT;
+	smp->flags |= SMP_F_VOL_TEST | SMP_F_MAY_CHANGE;
+	return 1;
+}
+
 /* Note: must not be declared <const> as its list will be overwritten.
  * Note: fetches that may return multiple types must be declared as the lowest
  * common denominator, the type that can be casted into all other ones. For
@@ -1134,6 +1152,7 @@
 	{ "always_false", smp_fetch_false, 0,            NULL, SMP_T_BOOL, SMP_USE_INTRN },
 	{ "always_true",  smp_fetch_true,  0,            NULL, SMP_T_BOOL, SMP_USE_INTRN },
 	{ "env",          smp_fetch_env,   ARG1(1,STR),  NULL, SMP_T_CSTR, SMP_USE_INTRN },
+	{ "date",         smp_fetch_date,  ARG1(0,SINT), NULL, SMP_T_UINT, SMP_USE_INTRN },
 	{ /* END */ },
 }};