diff --git a/src/fmu/dataio/_metadata.py b/src/fmu/dataio/_metadata.py
index d5b0ff097..d1ea2b4b3 100644
--- a/src/fmu/dataio/_metadata.py
+++ b/src/fmu/dataio/_metadata.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 # https://realpython.com/python-data-classes/#basic-data-classes
 
 import datetime
+from datetime import timezone
 import getpass
 import logging
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
@@ -45,7 +46,7 @@ def generate_meta_tracklog() -> list:
     """Create the tracklog metadata, which here assumes 'created' only."""
     meta = list()
 
-    dtime = datetime.datetime.now().astimezone().isoformat()
+    dtime = datetime.datetime.now(timezone.utc).isoformat()
     user = getpass.getuser()
     meta.append({"datetime": dtime, "user": {"id": user}, "event": "created"})
     return meta
diff --git a/tests/test_units/test_metadata_class.py b/tests/test_units/test_metadata_class.py
index 4f6b80974..2ad5434b7 100644
--- a/tests/test_units/test_metadata_class.py
+++ b/tests/test_units/test_metadata_class.py
@@ -49,6 +49,9 @@ def test_generate_meta_tracklog(edataobj1):
     # datetime in tracklog shall include time zone offset
     assert isoparse(logentry["datetime"]).tzinfo is not None
 
+    # datetime in tracklog shall be on UTC time
+    assert isoparse(logentry["datetime"]).utcoffset().total_seconds() == 0
+
 
 # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # DATA block (ObjectData)