https://gcc.gnu.org/ml/gcc-patches/2015-06/msg02210.html

diff --git a/libcpp/macro.c b/libcpp/macro.c
index 1e0a0b5..a52e3cb 100644
--- a/libcpp/macro.c
+++ b/libcpp/macro.c
@@ -349,14 +349,38 @@ _cpp_builtin_macro_text (cpp_reader *pfile, cpp_hashnode *node)
 	     slow on some systems.  */
 	  time_t tt;
 	  struct tm *tb = NULL;
+	  char *source_date_epoch;
 
-	  /* (time_t) -1 is a legitimate value for "number of seconds
-	     since the Epoch", so we have to do a little dance to
-	     distinguish that from a genuine error.  */
-	  errno = 0;
-	  tt = time(NULL);
-	  if (tt != (time_t)-1 || errno == 0)
-	    tb = localtime (&tt);
+	  /* Allow the date and time to be set externally by an exported
+	     environment variable to enable reproducible builds. */
+	  source_date_epoch = getenv ("SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH");
+	  if (source_date_epoch)
+	    {
+	      errno = 0;
+	      tt = (time_t) strtol (source_date_epoch, NULL, 10);
+	      if (errno == 0)
+	        {
+		  tb = gmtime (&tt);
+		  if (tb == NULL)
+		    cpp_error (pfile, CPP_DL_ERROR,
+			       "SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=\"%s\" is not a valid date",
+			       source_date_epoch);
+	        }
+	      else
+		cpp_error (pfile, CPP_DL_ERROR,
+			   "SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH=\"%s\" is not a valid number",
+			   source_date_epoch);
+	    }
+	  else
+	    {
+	    /* (time_t) -1 is a legitimate value for "number of seconds
+	       since the Epoch", so we have to do a little dance to
+	       distinguish that from a genuine error.  */
+	    errno = 0;
+	    tt = time(NULL);
+	    if (tt != (time_t)-1 || errno == 0)
+	      tb = localtime (&tt);
+	  }
 
 	  if (tb)
 	    {