diff --git a/package/tz/tz.mk b/package/tz/tz.mk
index 1e797046d2..135726c2ce 100644
--- a/package/tz/tz.mk
+++ b/package/tz/tz.mk
@@ -8,6 +8,16 @@ TZ_DEPENDENCIES = host-tzdata host-tzdump
 TZ_LICENSE = Public domain
 
 TZ_LOCALTIME = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME))
+ifneq ($(TZ_LOCALTIME),)
+define TZ_SET_LOCALTIME
+	if [ ! -f $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc/$(TZ_LOCALTIME) ]; then \
+		printf "Error: '%s' is not a valid timezone, check your BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME setting\n" \
+			"$(TZ_LOCALTIME)"; \
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
+	ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc/$(TZ_LOCALTIME) $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/TZ
+endef
+endif
 
 define TZ_BUILD_CMDS
 	(cd $(HOST_DIR)/share/zoneinfo/posix/; \
@@ -25,12 +35,7 @@ define TZ_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
 		$(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/iso3166.tab
 	mkdir -p $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc
 	cp -a $(@D)/output/* $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc
-	if [ ! -f $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc/$(TZ_LOCALTIME) ]; then \
-		printf "Error: '%s' is not a valid timezone, check your BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME setting\n" \
-			"$(TZ_LOCALTIME)"; \
-		exit 1; \
-	fi
-	ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/uclibc/$(TZ_LOCALTIME) $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/TZ
+	$(TZ_SET_LOCALTIME)
 endef
 
 $(eval $(generic-package))
diff --git a/package/tzdata/tzdata.mk b/package/tzdata/tzdata.mk
index e20c946208..75fa5eb67e 100644
--- a/package/tzdata/tzdata.mk
+++ b/package/tzdata/tzdata.mk
@@ -25,6 +25,17 @@ TZDATA_ZONELIST = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_TZ_ZONELIST))
 endif
 
 TZDATA_LOCALTIME = $(call qstrip,$(BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME))
+ifneq ($(TZDATA_LOCALTIME),)
+define TZDATA_SET_LOCALTIME
+	if [ ! -f $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME) ]; then \
+		printf "Error: '%s' is not a valid timezone, check your BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME setting\n" \
+			"$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME)"; \
+		exit 1; \
+	fi
+	ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME) $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/localtime
+	echo "$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME)" >$(TARGET_DIR)/etc/timezone
+endef
+endif
 
 # No need to extract for target, we're using the host-installed files
 TZDATA_EXTRACT_CMDS =
@@ -36,13 +47,7 @@ define TZDATA_INSTALL_TARGET_CMDS
 	for zone in posix/*; do \
 	    ln -sfn "$${zone}" "$${zone##*/}"; \
 	done
-	if [ ! -f $(TARGET_DIR)/usr/share/zoneinfo/$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME) ]; then \
-		printf "Error: '%s' is not a valid timezone, check your BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME setting\n" \
-			"$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME)"; \
-		exit 1; \
-	fi
-	ln -sf ../usr/share/zoneinfo/$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME) $(TARGET_DIR)/etc/localtime
-	echo "$(TZDATA_LOCALTIME)" >$(TARGET_DIR)/etc/timezone
+	$(TZDATA_SET_LOCALTIME)
 endef
 
 define HOST_TZDATA_BUILD_CMDS
diff --git a/system/Config.in b/system/Config.in
index 498b56e222..b1aebf4ef5 100644
--- a/system/Config.in
+++ b/system/Config.in
@@ -481,6 +481,8 @@ config BR2_TARGET_LOCALTIME
 	    Pacific/Wallis
 	    ...
 
+	  Set to empty to not install a default time zone.
+
 endif # BR2_TARGET_TZ_INFO
 
 config BR2_ROOTFS_USERS_TABLES