diff --git a/ext/date/tests/bug35885.phpt b/ext/date/tests/bug35885.phpt
index 60fc2ca6959..b3074f7f34f 100644
--- a/ext/date/tests/bug35885.phpt
+++ b/ext/date/tests/bug35885.phpt
@@ -4,8 +4,9 @@ Bug #35885 (strtotime("NOW") no longer works)
 <?php
 date_default_timezone_set("UTC");
 
-$ts = date(DATE_ISO8601, strtotime('NOW'));
-$ts2 = date(DATE_ISO8601, time());
+$time = time();
+$ts = date(DATE_ISO8601, strtotime('NOW', $time));
+$ts2 = date(DATE_ISO8601, $time);
 
 $res = ($ts == $ts2);
 var_dump($res);