diff --git a/nats/micro/service.py b/nats/micro/service.py
index df8109ca..159530a3 100644
--- a/nats/micro/service.py
+++ b/nats/micro/service.py
@@ -709,7 +709,7 @@ async def start(self) -> None:
                     subject, cb=verb_handler
                 )
 
-        self._started = datetime.now()
+        self._started = datetime.utcnow()
         await self._client.flush()
 
     @overload