diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
index cfd254cf1..cd289b2f6 100644
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-linux.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ suites:
 - "trusty"
 architectures:
 - "amd64"
-packages: 
+packages:
 - "curl"
 - "g++-multilib"
 - "git-core"
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@ packages:
 - "binutils-gold"
 - "ca-certificates"
 - "python"
-reference_datetime: "2016-01-01 00:00:00"
 remotes:
 - "url": "https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git"
   "dir": "bitcoin"
@@ -45,29 +44,36 @@ script: |
     mkdir -p ${BASE_CACHE} ${SOURCES_PATH}
   fi
 
-  # Create global faketime wrappers
+  function create_global_faketime_wrappers {
   for prog in ${FAKETIME_PROGS}; do
     echo '#!/bin/bash' > ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
     echo "REAL=\`which -a ${prog} | grep -v ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog} | head -1\`" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
     echo 'export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/faketime/libfaketime.so.1' >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
-    echo "export FAKETIME=\"${REFERENCE_DATETIME}\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
+    echo "export FAKETIME=\"$1\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
     echo "\$REAL \$@" >> $WRAP_DIR/${prog}
     chmod +x ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
   done
+  }
 
-  # Create per-host faketime wrappers
+  function create_per-host_faketime_wrappers {
   for i in $HOSTS; do
     for prog in ${FAKETIME_HOST_PROGS}; do
         echo '#!/bin/bash' > ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo "REAL=\`which -a ${i}-${prog} | grep -v ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog} | head -1\`" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo 'export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/faketime/libfaketime.so.1' >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
-        echo "export FAKETIME=\"${REFERENCE_DATETIME}\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
+        echo "export FAKETIME=\"$1\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo "\$REAL \$@" >> $WRAP_DIR/${i}-${prog}
         chmod +x ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
     done
   done
+  }
+
   export PATH=${WRAP_DIR}:${PATH}
 
+  # Faketime for depends so intermediate results are comparable
+  create_global_faketime_wrappers "2000-01-01 12:00:00"
+  create_per-host_faketime_wrappers "2000-01-01 12:00:00"
+
   cd bitcoin
   BASEPREFIX=`pwd`/depends
   # Build dependencies for each host
@@ -75,6 +81,10 @@ script: |
     make ${MAKEOPTS} -C ${BASEPREFIX} HOST="${i}"
   done
 
+  # Faketime for binaries
+  create_global_faketime_wrappers "${REFERENCE_DATETIME}"
+  create_per-host_faketime_wrappers "${REFERENCE_DATETIME}"
+
   # Create the release tarball using (arbitrarily) the first host
   ./autogen.sh
   CONFIG_SITE=${BASEPREFIX}/`echo "${HOSTS}" | awk '{print $1;}'`/share/config.site ./configure --prefix=/
diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml
index 8b2b1467c..f6e9414ab 100644
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx-signer.yml
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ architectures:
 - "amd64"
 packages:
 - "faketime"
-reference_datetime: "2016-01-01 00:00:00"
 remotes:
 - "url": "https://github.com/bitcoin-core/bitcoin-detached-sigs.git"
   "dir": "signature"
diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml
index b37b35d76..8436cd612 100644
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-osx.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ suites:
 - "trusty"
 architectures:
 - "amd64"
-packages: 
+packages:
 - "ca-certificates"
 - "curl"
 - "g++"
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ packages:
 - "python-dev"
 - "python-setuptools"
 - "fonts-tuffy"
-reference_datetime: "2016-01-01 00:00:00"
 remotes:
 - "url": "https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git"
   "dir": "bitcoin"
@@ -54,29 +53,36 @@ script: |
 
   export ZERO_AR_DATE=1
 
-  # Create global faketime wrappers
+  function create_global_faketime_wrappers {
   for prog in ${FAKETIME_PROGS}; do
     echo '#!/bin/bash' > ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
     echo "REAL=\`which -a ${prog} | grep -v ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog} | head -1\`" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
     echo 'export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/faketime/libfaketime.so.1' >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
-    echo "export FAKETIME=\"${REFERENCE_DATETIME}\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
+    echo "export FAKETIME=\"$1\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
     echo "\$REAL \$@" >> $WRAP_DIR/${prog}
     chmod +x ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
   done
+  }
 
-  # Create per-host faketime wrappers
+  function create_per-host_faketime_wrappers {
   for i in $HOSTS; do
     for prog in ${FAKETIME_HOST_PROGS}; do
         echo '#!/bin/bash' > ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo "REAL=\`which -a ${i}-${prog} | grep -v ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog} | head -1\`" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo 'export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/faketime/libfaketime.so.1' >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
-        echo "export FAKETIME=\"${REFERENCE_DATETIME}\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
+        echo "export FAKETIME=\"$1\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo "\$REAL \$@" >> $WRAP_DIR/${i}-${prog}
         chmod +x ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
     done
   done
+  }
+
   export PATH=${WRAP_DIR}:${PATH}
 
+  # Faketime for depends so intermediate results are comparable
+  create_global_faketime_wrappers "2000-01-01 12:00:00"
+  create_per-host_faketime_wrappers "2000-01-01 12:00:00"
+
   cd bitcoin
   BASEPREFIX=`pwd`/depends
 
@@ -88,6 +94,10 @@ script: |
     make ${MAKEOPTS} -C ${BASEPREFIX} HOST="${i}"
   done
 
+  # Faketime for binaries
+  create_global_faketime_wrappers "${REFERENCE_DATETIME}"
+  create_per-host_faketime_wrappers "${REFERENCE_DATETIME}"
+
   # Create the release tarball using (arbitrarily) the first host
   ./autogen.sh
   CONFIG_SITE=${BASEPREFIX}/`echo "${HOSTS}" | awk '{print $1;}'`/share/config.site ./configure --prefix=/
diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml
index 88edb9662..3c1e0214a 100644
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win-signer.yml
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ architectures:
 packages:
 - "libssl-dev"
 - "autoconf"
-reference_datetime: "2016-01-01 00:00:00"
 remotes:
 - "url": "https://github.com/bitcoin-core/bitcoin-detached-sigs.git"
   "dir": "signature"
diff --git a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml
index 65f76e8df..1d3a876df 100644
--- a/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml
+++ b/contrib/gitian-descriptors/gitian-win.yml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ suites:
 - "trusty"
 architectures:
 - "amd64"
-packages: 
+packages:
 - "curl"
 - "g++"
 - "git-core"
@@ -21,7 +21,6 @@ packages:
 - "zip"
 - "ca-certificates"
 - "python"
-reference_datetime: "2016-01-01 00:00:00"
 remotes:
 - "url": "https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin.git"
   "dir": "bitcoin"
@@ -47,29 +46,31 @@ script: |
     mkdir -p ${BASE_CACHE} ${SOURCES_PATH}
   fi
 
-  # Create global faketime wrappers
+  function create_global_faketime_wrappers {
   for prog in ${FAKETIME_PROGS}; do
     echo '#!/bin/bash' > ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
     echo "REAL=\`which -a ${prog} | grep -v ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog} | head -1\`" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
     echo 'export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/faketime/libfaketime.so.1' >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
-    echo "export FAKETIME=\"${REFERENCE_DATETIME}\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
+    echo "export FAKETIME=\"$1\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
     echo "\$REAL \$@" >> $WRAP_DIR/${prog}
     chmod +x ${WRAP_DIR}/${prog}
   done
+  }
 
-  # Create per-host faketime wrappers
+  function create_per-host_faketime_wrappers {
   for i in $HOSTS; do
     for prog in ${FAKETIME_HOST_PROGS}; do
         echo '#!/bin/bash' > ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo "REAL=\`which -a ${i}-${prog} | grep -v ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog} | head -1\`" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo 'export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/faketime/libfaketime.so.1' >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
-        echo "export FAKETIME=\"${REFERENCE_DATETIME}\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
+        echo "export FAKETIME=\"$1\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo "\$REAL \$@" >> $WRAP_DIR/${i}-${prog}
         chmod +x ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
     done
   done
+  }
 
-  # Create per-host linker wrapper
+  function create_per-host_linker_wrapper {
   # This is only needed for trusty, as the mingw linker leaks a few bytes of
   # heap, causing non-determinism. See discussion in https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/6900
   for i in $HOSTS; do
@@ -85,15 +86,21 @@ script: |
         echo '#!/bin/bash' > ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo "REAL=\`which -a ${i}-${prog} | grep -v ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog} | head -1\`" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo 'export LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/faketime/libfaketime.so.1' >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
-        echo "export FAKETIME=\"${REFERENCE_DATETIME}\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
+        echo "export FAKETIME=\"$1\"" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo "export COMPILER_PATH=${WRAP_DIR}/${i}" >> ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
         echo "\$REAL \$@" >> $WRAP_DIR/${i}-${prog}
         chmod +x ${WRAP_DIR}/${i}-${prog}
     done
   done
+  }
 
   export PATH=${WRAP_DIR}:${PATH}
 
+  # Faketime for depends so intermediate results are comparable
+  create_global_faketime_wrappers "2000-01-01 12:00:00"
+  create_per-host_faketime_wrappers "2000-01-01 12:00:00"
+  create_per-host_linker_wrapper "2000-01-01 12:00:00"
+
   cd bitcoin
   BASEPREFIX=`pwd`/depends
   # Build dependencies for each host
@@ -101,6 +108,11 @@ script: |
     make ${MAKEOPTS} -C ${BASEPREFIX} HOST="${i}"
   done
 
+  # Faketime for binaries
+  create_global_faketime_wrappers "${REFERENCE_DATETIME}"
+  create_per-host_faketime_wrappers "${REFERENCE_DATETIME}"
+  create_per-host_linker_wrapper "${REFERENCE_DATETIME}"
+
   # Create the release tarball using (arbitrarily) the first host
   ./autogen.sh
   CONFIG_SITE=${BASEPREFIX}/`echo "${HOSTS}" | awk '{print $1;}'`/share/config.site ./configure --prefix=/