diff --git a/reftable/stack.c b/reftable/stack.c
index fa87b46c37..1fba96ddb3 100644
--- a/reftable/stack.c
+++ b/reftable/stack.c
@@ -365,45 +365,26 @@ done:
 	return err;
 }
 
-/* return negative if a before b. */
-static int tv_cmp(struct timeval *a, struct timeval *b)
-{
-	time_t diff = a->tv_sec - b->tv_sec;
-	int udiff = a->tv_usec - b->tv_usec;
-
-	if (diff != 0)
-		return diff;
-
-	return udiff;
-}
-
 static int reftable_stack_reload_maybe_reuse(struct reftable_stack *st,
 					     int reuse_open)
 {
 	char **names = NULL, **names_after = NULL;
-	struct timeval deadline;
+	uint64_t deadline;
 	int64_t delay = 0;
 	int tries = 0, err;
 	int fd = -1;
 
-	err = gettimeofday(&deadline, NULL);
-	if (err < 0)
-		goto out;
-	deadline.tv_sec += 3;
+	deadline = reftable_time_ms() + 3000;
 
 	while (1) {
-		struct timeval now;
-
-		err = gettimeofday(&now, NULL);
-		if (err < 0)
-			goto out;
+		uint64_t now = reftable_time_ms();
 
 		/*
 		 * Only look at deadlines after the first few times. This
 		 * simplifies debugging in GDB.
 		 */
 		tries++;
-		if (tries > 3 && tv_cmp(&now, &deadline) >= 0)
+		if (tries > 3 && now >= deadline)
 			goto out;
 
 		fd = open(st->list_file, O_RDONLY);
diff --git a/reftable/system.c b/reftable/system.c
index 4d7e366b55..cd76e56be8 100644
--- a/reftable/system.c
+++ b/reftable/system.c
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include "basics.h"
 #include "reftable-error.h"
 #include "../lockfile.h"
+#include "../trace.h"
 #include "../tempfile.h"
 #include "../write-or-die.h"
 
@@ -137,3 +138,8 @@ int reftable_fsync(int fd)
 {
 	return fsync_component(FSYNC_COMPONENT_REFERENCE, fd);
 }
+
+uint64_t reftable_time_ms(void)
+{
+	return getnanotime() / 1000000;
+}
diff --git a/reftable/system.h b/reftable/system.h
index a7eb6acd4a..071bfa3d58 100644
--- a/reftable/system.h
+++ b/reftable/system.h
@@ -111,4 +111,7 @@ int flock_release(struct reftable_flock *l);
  */
 int flock_commit(struct reftable_flock *l);
 
+/* Report the time in milliseconds. */
+uint64_t reftable_time_ms(void);
+
 #endif