diff --git a/check b/check
index ed1834dc..09d753b5 100755
--- a/check
+++ b/check
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ trim_test_list()
 
 _wallclock()
 {
-    date "+%H %M %S" | $AWK_PROG '{ print $1*3600 + $2*60 + $3 }'
+    date "+%s"
 }
 
 _timestamp()