diff --git a/module/os/linux/zfs/zfs_vnops_os.c b/module/os/linux/zfs/zfs_vnops_os.c
index 65d1d786ae5a..9ea8ad5f4a65 100644
--- a/module/os/linux/zfs/zfs_vnops_os.c
+++ b/module/os/linux/zfs/zfs_vnops_os.c
@@ -2435,9 +2435,8 @@ zfs_setattr(znode_t *zp, vattr_t *vap, int flags, cred_t *cr, zidmap_t *mnt_ns)
 
 	if ((mask & ATTR_ATIME) || zp->z_atime_dirty) {
 		zp->z_atime_dirty = B_FALSE;
-		inode_timespec_t tmp_atime;
+		inode_timespec_t tmp_atime = zpl_inode_get_atime(ip);
 		ZFS_TIME_ENCODE(&tmp_atime, atime);
-		zpl_inode_set_atime_to_ts(ZTOI(zp), tmp_atime);
 		SA_ADD_BULK_ATTR(bulk, count, SA_ZPL_ATIME(zfsvfs), NULL,
 		    &atime, sizeof (atime));
 	}
diff --git a/tests/zfs-tests/cmd/ctime.c b/tests/zfs-tests/cmd/ctime.c
index 0f5d81aea613..5ff1cea8a869 100644
--- a/tests/zfs-tests/cmd/ctime.c
+++ b/tests/zfs-tests/cmd/ctime.c
@@ -362,12 +362,20 @@ main(void)
 			return (1);
 		}
 
-		if (t1 == t2) {
-			(void) fprintf(stderr, "%s: t1(%ld) == t2(%ld)\n",
+
+		/*
+		 * Ideally, time change would be exactly two seconds, but allow
+		 * a little slack in case of scheduling delays or similar.
+		 */
+		long delta = (long)t2 - (long)t1;
+		if (delta < 2 || delta > 4) {
+			(void) fprintf(stderr,
+			    "%s: BAD time change: t1(%ld), t2(%ld)\n",
 			    timetest_table[i].name, (long)t1, (long)t2);
 			return (1);
 		} else {
-			(void) fprintf(stderr, "%s: t1(%ld) != t2(%ld)\n",
+			(void) fprintf(stderr,
+			    "%s: good time change: t1(%ld), t2(%ld)\n",
 			    timetest_table[i].name, (long)t1, (long)t2);
 		}
 	}