diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/CHANGELOG.md b/jib-gradle-plugin/CHANGELOG.md
index 68ccd2831e..4af7c7ad99 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 ### Added
 
 - Can now set timestamps (last modified time) of the files in the built image with `jib.container.filesModificationTime`. The value should either be `EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND` to set the timestamps to Epoch + 1 second (default behavior), or an ISO 8601 date time parsable with [`DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME`](https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/11/docs/api/java.base/java/time/format/DateTimeFormatter.html) such as `2019-07-15T10:15:30+09:00` or `2011-12-03T22:42:05Z` ([#1818](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/pull/1818))
+- Can now set container creation timestamp with `jib.container.creationTime`. The value should be `EPOCH`, `USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP`, or an ISO 8601 date time ([#1609](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/issues/1609))
 
 ### Changed
 
 - When building to a registry, Jib now skips downloading and caching base image layers that already exist in the target registry. This feature will be particularly useful in CI/CD environments. However, if you want to force caching base image layers locally, set the system property `-Djib.alwaysCacheBaseImage=true` ([#1840](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/pull/1840))
+- `jib.container.useCurrentTimestamp` has been deprecated in favor of `jib.container.creationTime` with `USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP` ([#1609](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/issues/1609))
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/EmptyProjectIntegrationTest.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/EmptyProjectIntegrationTest.java
index db839e9e0e..e35c3e0aca 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/EmptyProjectIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/EmptyProjectIntegrationTest.java
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.api.InvalidImageReferenceException;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.security.DigestException;
+import java.time.Instant;
 import org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers;
 import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.ClassRule;
@@ -67,7 +68,7 @@ public void testBuild_empty() throws IOException, InterruptedException, DigestEx
             + System.nanoTime();
     Assert.assertEquals("", JibRunHelper.buildAndRun(emptyTestProject, targetImage));
     assertDockerInspect(targetImage);
-    JibRunHelper.assertCreationTimeEpoch(targetImage);
+    JibRunHelper.assertSimpleCreationTimeIsEqual(Instant.EPOCH, targetImage);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -87,9 +88,7 @@ public void testDockerDaemon_empty() throws IOException, InterruptedException, D
     String targetImage = "emptyimage:gradle" + System.nanoTime();
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "", JibRunHelper.buildToDockerDaemonAndRun(emptyTestProject, targetImage, "build.gradle"));
-    Assert.assertEquals(
-        "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",
-        new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", targetImage).run().trim());
+    JibRunHelper.assertSimpleCreationTimeIsEqual(Instant.EPOCH, targetImage);
     assertDockerInspect(targetImage);
   }
 
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/GradleLayerConfigurationIntegrationTest.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/GradleLayerConfigurationIntegrationTest.java
index 26eea41970..250c6d72d6 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/GradleLayerConfigurationIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/GradleLayerConfigurationIntegrationTest.java
@@ -53,7 +53,6 @@ public void testGradleLayerConfiguration_multiModule() throws IOException {
     // snapshot dependencies (4)
     // dependencies (5)
 
-    Path complexServiceRoot = multiTestProject.getProjectRoot().resolve("complex-service");
     // verify dependencies
     List<String> dependencies = layers.get(5);
     List<String> expectedDependencies =
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/JibRunHelper.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/JibRunHelper.java
index 17e909a05f..8db0811e48 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/JibRunHelper.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/JibRunHelper.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import java.nio.file.Files;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.security.DigestException;
+import java.time.Instant;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
@@ -87,8 +88,8 @@ static void buildAndRunAdditionalTag(
 
     Assert.assertEquals(expectedOutput, pullAndRunBuiltImage(imageReference));
     Assert.assertEquals(expectedOutput, pullAndRunBuiltImage(additionalImageReference));
-    assertCreationTimeEpoch(imageReference);
-    assertCreationTimeEpoch(additionalImageReference);
+    assertSimpleCreationTimeIsEqual(Instant.EPOCH, imageReference);
+    assertSimpleCreationTimeIsEqual(Instant.EPOCH, additionalImageReference);
   }
 
   static BuildResult buildToDockerDaemon(
@@ -138,11 +139,20 @@ static void assertBuildSuccess(BuildResult buildResult, String taskName, String
     Assert.assertThat(buildResult.getOutput(), CoreMatchers.containsString(successMessage));
   }
 
-  static void assertCreationTimeEpoch(String imageReference)
+  static void assertSimpleCreationTimeIsEqual(Instant match, String imageReference)
       throws IOException, InterruptedException {
-    Assert.assertEquals(
-        "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",
-        new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", imageReference).run().trim());
+    String inspect =
+        new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", imageReference).run().trim();
+    Instant parsed = Instant.parse(inspect);
+    Assert.assertEquals(match, parsed);
+  }
+
+  static void assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(Instant before, String imageReference)
+      throws IOException, InterruptedException {
+    String inspect =
+        new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", imageReference).run().trim();
+    Instant parsed = Instant.parse(inspect);
+    Assert.assertTrue(parsed.isAfter(before));
   }
 
   static void assertImageDigestAndId(Path projectRoot) throws IOException, DigestException {
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/SingleProjectIntegrationTest.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/SingleProjectIntegrationTest.java
index 6ed601e0ab..a01bc3c9b1 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/SingleProjectIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/SingleProjectIntegrationTest.java
@@ -52,24 +52,6 @@ private static boolean isJava11RuntimeOrHigher() {
     return Integer.valueOf(split.iterator().next()) >= 11;
   }
 
-  /**
-   * Asserts that the creation time of the simple test project is set. If the time parsed from the
-   * {@code docker inspect} command occurs before the specified time (i.e. if it is 1970), then the
-   * assertion will fail.
-   *
-   * @param before the specified time to compare the resulting image's creation time to
-   * @param imageReference the image to test
-   * @throws IOException if the {@code docker inspect} command fails to run
-   * @throws InterruptedException if the {@code docker inspect} command is interrupted
-   */
-  private static void assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(Instant before, String imageReference)
-      throws IOException, InterruptedException {
-    String inspect =
-        new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", imageReference).run().trim();
-    Instant parsed = Instant.parse(inspect);
-    Assert.assertTrue(parsed.isAfter(before) || parsed.equals(before));
-  }
-
   private static void assertWorkingDirectory(String expected, String imageReference)
       throws IOException, InterruptedException {
     Assert.assertEquals(
@@ -131,11 +113,11 @@ private static void assertDockerInspect(String imageReference)
                 + "            }"));
   }
 
-  private static void assertExtraDirectoryDeprecationWarning(String pomXml)
+  private static void assertExtraDirectoryDeprecationWarning(String buildFile)
       throws DigestException, IOException, InterruptedException {
     String targetImage = "localhost:6000/simpleimage:gradle" + System.nanoTime();
     BuildResult buildResult =
-        JibRunHelper.buildToDockerDaemon(simpleTestProject, targetImage, pomXml);
+        JibRunHelper.buildToDockerDaemon(simpleTestProject, targetImage, buildFile);
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "Hello, world. \n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\nrw-r--r--\nrw-r--r--\nfoo\ncat\n"
             + "1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n",
@@ -209,13 +191,12 @@ public void testBuild_simple() throws IOException, InterruptedException, DigestE
               "No classes files were found - did you compile your project?"));
     }
 
-    Instant beforeBuild = Instant.now();
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "Hello, world. An argument.\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\nrw-r--r--\nrw-r--r--\nfoo\ncat\n"
             + "1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n",
         JibRunHelper.buildAndRun(simpleTestProject, targetImage));
     assertDockerInspect(targetImage);
-    assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(beforeBuild, targetImage);
+    JibRunHelper.assertSimpleCreationTimeIsEqual(Instant.EPOCH, targetImage);
     assertWorkingDirectory("/home", targetImage);
     assertEntrypoint(
         "[java -cp /d1:/d2:/app/resources:/app/classes:/app/libs/* com.test.HelloWorld]",
@@ -326,7 +307,7 @@ public void testBuild_complex() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
     String targetImage = "localhost:6000/compleximage:gradle" + System.nanoTime();
     Instant beforeBuild = Instant.now();
     buildAndRunComplex(targetImage, "testuser2", "testpassword2", localRegistry2);
-    assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(beforeBuild, targetImage);
+    JibRunHelper.assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(beforeBuild, targetImage);
     assertWorkingDirectory("", targetImage);
   }
 
@@ -335,19 +316,18 @@ public void testBuild_complex_sameFromAndToRegistry() throws IOException, Interr
     String targetImage = "localhost:5000/compleximage:gradle" + System.nanoTime();
     Instant beforeBuild = Instant.now();
     buildAndRunComplex(targetImage, "testuser", "testpassword", localRegistry1);
-    assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(beforeBuild, targetImage);
+    JibRunHelper.assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(beforeBuild, targetImage);
     assertWorkingDirectory("", targetImage);
   }
 
   @Test
   public void testDockerDaemon_simple() throws IOException, InterruptedException, DigestException {
     String targetImage = "simpleimage:gradle" + System.nanoTime();
-    Instant beforeBuild = Instant.now();
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "Hello, world. An argument.\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\nrw-r--r--\nrw-r--r--\nfoo\ncat\n"
             + "1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n",
         JibRunHelper.buildToDockerDaemonAndRun(simpleTestProject, targetImage, "build.gradle"));
-    assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(beforeBuild, targetImage);
+    JibRunHelper.assertSimpleCreationTimeIsEqual(Instant.EPOCH, targetImage);
     assertDockerInspect(targetImage);
     assertWorkingDirectory("/home", targetImage);
   }
@@ -379,13 +359,46 @@ public void testBuild_skipDownloadingBaseImageLayers() throws IOException, Inter
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testDockerDaemon_filesModificationTimeCustom()
+  public void testDockerDaemon_timestampCustom()
       throws DigestException, IOException, InterruptedException {
     String targetImage = "simpleimage:gradle" + System.nanoTime();
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "Hello, world. \n2011-12-03T01:15:30Z\n",
         JibRunHelper.buildToDockerDaemonAndRun(
-            simpleTestProject, targetImage, "build-files-modification-time-custom.gradle"));
+            simpleTestProject, targetImage, "build-timestamps-custom.gradle"));
+    JibRunHelper.assertSimpleCreationTimeIsEqual(
+        Instant.parse("2013-11-04T21:29:30Z"), targetImage);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDockerDaemon_timestampDeprecated()
+      throws DigestException, IOException, InterruptedException {
+    Instant beforeBuild = Instant.now();
+    String targetImage = "simpleimage:gradle" + System.nanoTime();
+    BuildResult buildResult =
+        JibRunHelper.buildToDockerDaemon(
+            simpleTestProject, targetImage, "build-usecurrent-deprecated.gradle");
+    JibRunHelper.assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(beforeBuild, targetImage);
+    Assert.assertThat(
+        buildResult.getOutput(),
+        CoreMatchers.containsString(
+            "'jib.container.useCurrentTimestamp' is deprecated; use 'jib.container.creationTime' with the value 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' instead"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDockerDaemon_timestampFail()
+      throws InterruptedException, IOException, DigestException {
+    try {
+      String targetImage = "simpleimage:gradle" + System.nanoTime();
+      JibRunHelper.buildToDockerDaemonAndRun(
+          simpleTestProject, targetImage, "build-usecurrent-deprecated2.gradle");
+      Assert.fail();
+    } catch (UnexpectedBuildFailure ex) {
+      Assert.assertThat(
+          ex.getMessage(),
+          CoreMatchers.containsString(
+              "You cannot configure both 'jib.container.useCurrentTimestamp' and 'jib.container.creationTime'"));
+    }
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -420,7 +433,6 @@ public void testBuildTar_simple() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
 
     String outputPath =
         simpleTestProject.getProjectRoot().resolve("build").resolve("jib-image.tar").toString();
-    Instant beforeBuild = Instant.now();
     BuildResult buildResult =
         simpleTestProject.build(
             "clean",
@@ -438,7 +450,7 @@ public void testBuildTar_simple() throws IOException, InterruptedException {
             + "1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n",
         new Command("docker", "run", "--rm", targetImage).run());
     assertDockerInspect(targetImage);
-    assertSimpleCreationTimeIsAfter(beforeBuild, targetImage);
+    JibRunHelper.assertSimpleCreationTimeIsEqual(Instant.EPOCH, targetImage);
     assertWorkingDirectory("/home", targetImage);
   }
 }
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-files-modification-time-custom.gradle b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-timestamps-custom.gradle
similarity index 85%
rename from jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-files-modification-time-custom.gradle
rename to jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-timestamps-custom.gradle
index 2a9fd1340a..6fc9bb42a4 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-files-modification-time-custom.gradle
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-timestamps-custom.gradle
@@ -17,4 +17,5 @@ dependencies {
 jib {
   to.image = System.getProperty("_TARGET_IMAGE")
   container.filesModificationTime = '2011-12-03T10:15:30+09:00'
+  container.creationTime = '2013-11-05T06:29:30+09:00'
 }
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-usecurrent-deprecated.gradle b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-usecurrent-deprecated.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..919c215900
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-usecurrent-deprecated.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+plugins {
+  id 'java'
+  id 'com.google.cloud.tools.jib'
+}
+
+sourceCompatibility = 1.8
+targetCompatibility = 1.8
+
+repositories {
+  mavenCentral()
+}
+
+dependencies {
+  compile files('libs/dependency-1.0.0.jar')
+}
+
+jib {
+  to.image = System.getProperty("_TARGET_IMAGE")
+  container.useCurrentTimestamp = true
+}
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-usecurrent-deprecated2.gradle b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-usecurrent-deprecated2.gradle
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..092247c19b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build-usecurrent-deprecated2.gradle
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+plugins {
+  id 'java'
+  id 'com.google.cloud.tools.jib'
+}
+
+sourceCompatibility = 1.8
+targetCompatibility = 1.8
+
+repositories {
+  mavenCentral()
+}
+
+dependencies {
+  compile files('libs/dependency-1.0.0.jar')
+}
+
+jib {
+  to.image = System.getProperty("_TARGET_IMAGE")
+  container.useCurrentTimestamp = true
+  container.creationTime = 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'
+}
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build.gradle b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build.gradle
index 84b461ad2a..4c9914c010 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build.gradle
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/build.gradle
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ jib {
     credHelper = 'gcr'
   }
   container {
-    useCurrentTimestamp = true
+    creationTime = 'EPOCH'
     args = ['An argument.']
     ports = ['1000/tcp', '2000-2003/udp']
     labels = [key1:'value1', key2:'value2']
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/complex-build.gradle b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/complex-build.gradle
index de303ff081..4d7ad8c00c 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/complex-build.gradle
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/integration-test/resources/gradle/projects/simple/complex-build.gradle
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ jib {
     }
   }
   container {
-    useCurrentTimestamp = true
+    creationTime = 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'
     args = ['An argument.']
     mainClass = 'com.test.HelloWorld'
     jvmFlags = ['-Xms512m', '-Xdebug']
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildDockerTask.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildDockerTask.java
index b131b9df19..bee61893c7 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildDockerTask.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildDockerTask.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidAppRootException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerVolumeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerizingModeException;
+import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidCreationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidFilesModificationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidWorkingDirectoryException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.JibBuildRunner;
@@ -172,6 +173,14 @@ public void buildDocker()
               + ex.getInvalidFilesModificationTime(),
           ex);
 
+    } catch (InvalidCreationTimeException ex) {
+      throw new GradleException(
+          "container.creationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see "
+              + "DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword (\"EPOCH\", "
+              + "\"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\"): "
+              + ex.getInvalidCreationTime(),
+          ex);
+
     } catch (IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException ex) {
       throw new GradleException(
           HelpfulSuggestions.forIncompatibleBaseImageJavaVesionForGradle(
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildImageTask.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildImageTask.java
index ef55b10451..cf16d06939 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildImageTask.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildImageTask.java
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidAppRootException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerVolumeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerizingModeException;
+import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidCreationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidFilesModificationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidWorkingDirectoryException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.JibBuildRunner;
@@ -152,6 +153,14 @@ public void buildImage()
               + ex.getInvalidFilesModificationTime(),
           ex);
 
+    } catch (InvalidCreationTimeException ex) {
+      throw new GradleException(
+          "container.creationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see "
+              + "DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword (\"EPOCH\", "
+              + "\"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\"): "
+              + ex.getInvalidCreationTime(),
+          ex);
+
     } catch (IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException ex) {
       throw new GradleException(
           HelpfulSuggestions.forIncompatibleBaseImageJavaVesionForGradle(
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildTarTask.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildTarTask.java
index 179b93d21f..f7612d523b 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildTarTask.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/BuildTarTask.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidAppRootException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerVolumeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerizingModeException;
+import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidCreationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidFilesModificationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidWorkingDirectoryException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.JibBuildRunner;
@@ -170,6 +171,14 @@ public void buildTar()
               + ex.getInvalidFilesModificationTime(),
           ex);
 
+    } catch (InvalidCreationTimeException ex) {
+      throw new GradleException(
+          "container.creationTime should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see "
+              + "DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword (\"EPOCH\", "
+              + "\"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\"): "
+              + ex.getInvalidCreationTime(),
+          ex);
+
     } catch (IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException ex) {
       throw new GradleException(
           HelpfulSuggestions.forIncompatibleBaseImageJavaVesionForGradle(
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/ContainerParameters.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/ContainerParameters.java
index d9db45e31e..21d1831e28 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/ContainerParameters.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/ContainerParameters.java
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ public class ContainerParameters {
   @Nullable private String user;
   @Nullable private String workingDirectory;
   private String filesModificationTime = "EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND";
+  private String creationTime = "EPOCH";
 
   @Input
   @Optional
@@ -261,4 +262,17 @@ public String getFilesModificationTime() {
   public void setFilesModificationTime(String filesModificationTime) {
     this.filesModificationTime = filesModificationTime;
   }
+
+  @Input
+  @Optional
+  public String getCreationTime() {
+    if (System.getProperty(PropertyNames.CONTAINER_CREATION_TIME) != null) {
+      return System.getProperty(PropertyNames.CONTAINER_CREATION_TIME);
+    }
+    return creationTime;
+  }
+
+  public void setCreationTime(String creationTime) {
+    this.creationTime = creationTime;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/GradleRawConfiguration.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/GradleRawConfiguration.java
index bcbf1786bf..d5517d7744 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/GradleRawConfiguration.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/GradleRawConfiguration.java
@@ -156,6 +156,11 @@ public String getFilesModificationTime() {
     return jibExtension.getContainer().getFilesModificationTime();
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public String getCreationTime() {
+    return jibExtension.getContainer().getCreationTime();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public List<Path> getExtraDirectories() {
     return jibExtension.getExtraDirectories().getPaths();
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/TaskCommon.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/TaskCommon.java
index b4f95db67e..27b084dc98 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/TaskCommon.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/TaskCommon.java
@@ -89,6 +89,17 @@ static void checkDeprecatedUsage(JibExtension jibExtension, Logger logger) {
             "You cannot configure both 'jib.extraDirectory.path' and 'jib.extraDirectories.paths'");
       }
     }
+
+    if (jibExtension.getContainer().getUseCurrentTimestamp()) {
+      if (!jibExtension.getContainer().getCreationTime().equals("EPOCH")) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+            "You cannot configure both 'jib.container.useCurrentTimestamp' and "
+                + "'jib.container.creationTime'");
+      }
+      logger.warn(
+          "'jib.container.useCurrentTimestamp' is deprecated; use 'jib.container.creationTime' "
+              + "with the value 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' instead");
+    }
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/JibExtensionTest.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/JibExtensionTest.java
index 62411e64de..24cb345a82 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/JibExtensionTest.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/JibExtensionTest.java
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ public void testContainer() {
     Assert.assertEquals("", testJibExtension.getContainer().getAppRoot());
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND", testJibExtension.getContainer().getFilesModificationTime());
+    Assert.assertEquals("EPOCH", testJibExtension.getContainer().getCreationTime());
 
     testJibExtension.container(
         container -> {
diff --git a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/TaskCommonTest.java b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/TaskCommonTest.java
index 203da7d672..a8ab91f92e 100644
--- a/jib-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/TaskCommonTest.java
+++ b/jib-gradle-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/gradle/TaskCommonTest.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ public class TaskCommonTest {
   @Rule public final RestoreSystemProperties systemPropertyRestorer = new RestoreSystemProperties();
 
   @Mock private JibExtension jibExtension;
+  @Mock private ContainerParameters containerParameters;
   @Mock private Logger logger;
 
   @Before
@@ -49,6 +50,7 @@ public void setUp() {
     System.clearProperty("jib.extraDirectory.permissions");
     System.clearProperty("jib.extraDirectories.paths");
     System.clearProperty("jib.extraDirectories.permissions");
+    Mockito.when(jibExtension.getContainer()).thenReturn(containerParameters);
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -126,6 +128,32 @@ public void testCheckDeprecatedUsage_extraDirectoryAndExtraDirectoriesConfigured
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testCheckDeprecatedUsage_useCurrentTimestampConfigured() {
+    Mockito.when(containerParameters.getUseCurrentTimestamp()).thenReturn(true);
+    Mockito.when(containerParameters.getCreationTime()).thenReturn("EPOCH");
+    TaskCommon.checkDeprecatedUsage(jibExtension, logger);
+    Mockito.verify(logger)
+        .warn(
+            "'jib.container.useCurrentTimestamp' is deprecated; use 'jib.container.creationTime' "
+                + "with the value 'USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP' instead");
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testCheckDeprecatedUsage_useCurrentTimestampAndCreationTimeConfigured() {
+    Mockito.when(containerParameters.getUseCurrentTimestamp()).thenReturn(true);
+    Mockito.when(containerParameters.getCreationTime()).thenReturn("USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP");
+    try {
+      TaskCommon.checkDeprecatedUsage(jibExtension, logger);
+      Assert.fail();
+    } catch (IllegalArgumentException ex) {
+      Assert.assertEquals(
+          "You cannot configure both 'jib.container.useCurrentTimestamp' and "
+              + "'jib.container.creationTime'",
+          ex.getMessage());
+    }
+  }
+
   @Test
   public void testGetWarTask_normalJavaProject() {
     Project project = ProjectBuilder.builder().build();
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/CHANGELOG.md b/jib-maven-plugin/CHANGELOG.md
index 92042d7524..70ec67d215 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,10 +6,12 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 ### Added
 
 - Can now set file timestamps (last modified time) in the image with `<container><filesModificationTime>`. The value should either be `EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND` to set the timestamps to Epoch + 1 second (default behavior), or an ISO 8601 date time parsable with [`DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME`](https://docs.oracle.com/en/java/javase/11/docs/api/java.base/java/time/format/DateTimeFormatter.html) such as `2019-07-15T10:15:30+09:00` or `2011-12-03T22:42:05Z` ([#1818](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/pull/1818))
+- Can now set container creation timestamp with `<container><creationTime>`. The value should be `EPOCH`, `USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP`, or an ISO 8601 date time ([#1609](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/issues/1609))
 
 ### Changed
 
 - When building to a registry, Jib now skips downloading and caching base image layers that already exist in the target registry. This feature will be particularly useful in CI/CD environments. However, if you want to force caching base image layers locally, set the system property `-Djib.alwaysCacheBaseImage=true` ([#1840](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/pull/1840))
+- `<container><useCurrentTimestamp>` has been deprecated in favor of `<container><creationTime>` with `USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP` ([#1609](https://github.com/GoogleContainerTools/jib/issues/1609))
 
 ### Fixed
 
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildDockerMojo.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildDockerMojo.java
index ee8ee77276..52a79a1dd1 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildDockerMojo.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildDockerMojo.java
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidAppRootException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerVolumeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerizingModeException;
+import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidCreationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidFilesModificationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidWorkingDirectoryException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.JibBuildRunner;
@@ -97,6 +98,8 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailureException {
           HelpfulSuggestions.forDockerNotInstalled(HELPFUL_SUGGESTIONS_PREFIX));
     }
 
+    MojoCommon.checkUseCurrentTimestampDeprecation(this);
+
     try {
       RawConfiguration mavenRawConfiguration = new MavenRawConfiguration(this);
       MavenProjectProperties projectProperties =
@@ -170,6 +173,14 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailureException {
               + ex.getInvalidFilesModificationTime(),
           ex);
 
+    } catch (InvalidCreationTimeException ex) {
+      throw new MojoExecutionException(
+          "<container><creationTime> should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see "
+              + "DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword (\"EPOCH\", "
+              + "\"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\"): "
+              + ex.getInvalidCreationTime(),
+          ex);
+
     } catch (IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException ex) {
       throw new MojoExecutionException(
           HelpfulSuggestions.forIncompatibleBaseImageJavaVesionForMaven(
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildImageMojo.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildImageMojo.java
index 2f0271a6c9..1f5c82e248 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildImageMojo.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildImageMojo.java
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidAppRootException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerVolumeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerizingModeException;
+import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidCreationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidFilesModificationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidWorkingDirectoryException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.JibBuildRunner;
@@ -73,6 +74,8 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailureException {
       return;
     }
 
+    MojoCommon.checkUseCurrentTimestampDeprecation(this);
+
     // Validates 'format'.
     if (Arrays.stream(ImageFormat.values()).noneMatch(value -> value.name().equals(getFormat()))) {
       throw new MojoFailureException(
@@ -164,6 +167,14 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailureException {
               + ex.getInvalidFilesModificationTime(),
           ex);
 
+    } catch (InvalidCreationTimeException ex) {
+      throw new MojoExecutionException(
+          "<container><creationTime> should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see "
+              + "DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword (\"EPOCH\", "
+              + "\"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\"): "
+              + ex.getInvalidCreationTime(),
+          ex);
+
     } catch (IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException ex) {
       throw new MojoExecutionException(
           HelpfulSuggestions.forIncompatibleBaseImageJavaVesionForMaven(
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildTarMojo.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildTarMojo.java
index a1998e11f3..a30d47de21 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildTarMojo.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildTarMojo.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidAppRootException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerVolumeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidContainerizingModeException;
+import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidCreationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidFilesModificationTimeException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.InvalidWorkingDirectoryException;
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common.JibBuildRunner;
@@ -71,6 +72,8 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailureException {
       return;
     }
 
+    MojoCommon.checkUseCurrentTimestampDeprecation(this);
+
     try {
       RawConfiguration mavenRawConfiguration = new MavenRawConfiguration(this);
       MavenProjectProperties projectProperties =
@@ -142,6 +145,14 @@ public void execute() throws MojoExecutionException, MojoFailureException {
               + ex.getInvalidFilesModificationTime(),
           ex);
 
+    } catch (InvalidCreationTimeException ex) {
+      throw new MojoExecutionException(
+          "<container><creationTime> should be an ISO 8601 date-time (see "
+              + "DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME) or a special keyword (\"EPOCH\", "
+              + "\"USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP\"): "
+              + ex.getInvalidCreationTime(),
+          ex);
+
     } catch (IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException ex) {
       throw new MojoExecutionException(
           HelpfulSuggestions.forIncompatibleBaseImageJavaVesionForMaven(
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/JibPluginConfiguration.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/JibPluginConfiguration.java
index 5c5ea0ddb1..9f1304e4d6 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/JibPluginConfiguration.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/JibPluginConfiguration.java
@@ -186,6 +186,8 @@ public static class ContainerParameters {
     @Nullable @Parameter private String workingDirectory;
 
     @Parameter private String filesModificationTime = "EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND";
+
+    @Parameter private String creationTime = "EPOCH";
   }
 
   /** Configuration for the {@code extraDirectories} parameter. */
@@ -363,6 +365,7 @@ AuthConfiguration getTargetImageAuth() {
    *
    * @return {@code true} if the build should use the current timestamp, {@code false} if not
    */
+  @Deprecated
   boolean getUseCurrentTimestamp() {
     String property = getProperty(PropertyNames.CONTAINER_USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP);
     if (property != null) {
@@ -558,6 +561,19 @@ String getFilesModificationTime() {
     return container.filesModificationTime;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Gets the configured container creation time value.
+   *
+   * @return the configured container creation time value
+   */
+  String getCreationTime() {
+    String property = getProperty(PropertyNames.CONTAINER_CREATION_TIME);
+    if (property != null) {
+      return property;
+    }
+    return container.creationTime;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Gets the list of configured extra directory paths.
    *
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/MavenRawConfiguration.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/MavenRawConfiguration.java
index 913c9c89fa..d08649986e 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/MavenRawConfiguration.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/MavenRawConfiguration.java
@@ -161,6 +161,11 @@ public String getFilesModificationTime() {
     return jibPluginConfiguration.getFilesModificationTime();
   }
 
+  @Override
+  public String getCreationTime() {
+    return jibPluginConfiguration.getCreationTime();
+  }
+
   @Override
   public List<Path> getExtraDirectories() {
     return MojoCommon.getExtraDirectories(jibPluginConfiguration);
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/MojoCommon.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/MojoCommon.java
index 88d741dd42..62a820e557 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/MojoCommon.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/MojoCommon.java
@@ -38,6 +38,22 @@ public class MojoCommon {
   @VisibleForTesting
   public static final String REQUIRED_VERSION_PROPERTY_NAME = "jib.requiredVersion";
 
+  @Deprecated
+  static void checkUseCurrentTimestampDeprecation(JibPluginConfiguration jibPluginConfiguration) {
+    if (jibPluginConfiguration.getUseCurrentTimestamp()) {
+      if (!jibPluginConfiguration.getCreationTime().equals("EPOCH")) {
+        throw new IllegalArgumentException(
+            "You cannot configure both <container><useCurrentTimestamp> and "
+                + "<container><creationTime>");
+      }
+      jibPluginConfiguration
+          .getLog()
+          .warn(
+              "<container><useCurrentTimestamp> is deprecated; use <container><creationTime> with "
+                  + "the value USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP instead");
+    }
+  }
+
   /**
    * Gets the list of extra directory paths from a {@link JibPluginConfiguration}. Returns {@code
    * (project dir)/src/main/jib} by default if not configured.
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildDockerMojoIntegrationTest.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildDockerMojoIntegrationTest.java
index 06a3515bd0..61e1b8e88f 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildDockerMojoIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildDockerMojoIntegrationTest.java
@@ -20,7 +20,6 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.nio.file.Path;
 import java.security.DigestException;
-import java.time.Instant;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import org.apache.maven.it.VerificationException;
 import org.apache.maven.it.Verifier;
@@ -101,15 +100,13 @@ public void testExecute_simple()
       throws VerificationException, IOException, InterruptedException, DigestException {
     String targetImage = "simpleimage:maven" + System.nanoTime();
 
-    Instant before = Instant.now();
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "Hello, world. An argument.\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\nrw-r--r--\nrw-r--r--\nfoo\ncat\n"
             + "1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n",
         buildToDockerDaemonAndRun(simpleTestProject.getProjectRoot(), targetImage));
-    Instant buildTime =
-        Instant.parse(
-            new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", targetImage).run().trim());
-    Assert.assertTrue(buildTime.isAfter(before) || buildTime.equals(before));
+    Assert.assertEquals(
+        "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+        new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", targetImage).run().trim());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -231,7 +228,6 @@ public void testExecute_jarContainerizationOnMissingJar() throws IOException {
   public void testExecute_jibRequireVersion_ok() throws VerificationException, IOException {
     String targetImage = "simpleimage:maven" + System.nanoTime();
 
-    Instant before = Instant.now();
     Verifier verifier = new Verifier(simpleTestProject.getProjectRoot().toString());
     // this plugin should match 1.0
     verifier.setSystemProperty("jib.requiredVersion", "1.0");
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildImageMojoIntegrationTest.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildImageMojoIntegrationTest.java
index 84851ac8a9..3fab07385e 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildImageMojoIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildImageMojoIntegrationTest.java
@@ -202,7 +202,6 @@ private static String buildAndRunComplex(
       LocalRegistry targetRegistry,
       String pomFile)
       throws VerificationException, IOException, InterruptedException, DigestException {
-    Instant before = Instant.now();
     Verifier verifier = new Verifier(simpleTestProject.getProjectRoot().toString());
     verifier.setSystemProperty("jib.useOnlyProjectCache", "true");
     verifier.setSystemProperty("_TARGET_IMAGE", imageReference);
@@ -220,10 +219,6 @@ private static String buildAndRunComplex(
     // Verify output
     targetRegistry.pull(imageReference);
     assertDockerInspectParameters(imageReference);
-    Instant buildTime =
-        Instant.parse(
-            new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", imageReference).run().trim());
-    Assert.assertTrue(buildTime.isAfter(before) || buildTime.equals(before));
     return new Command("docker", "run", "--rm", imageReference).run();
   }
 
@@ -289,6 +284,14 @@ private static void assertCreationTimeEpoch(String imageReference)
         new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", imageReference).run().trim());
   }
 
+  private static void assertCreationTimeIsAfter(Instant before, String imageReference)
+      throws IOException, InterruptedException {
+    String inspect =
+        new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", imageReference).run().trim();
+    Instant after = Instant.parse(inspect);
+    Assert.assertTrue(after.isAfter(before));
+  }
+
   private static void assertWorkingDirectory(String expected, String imageReference)
       throws IOException, InterruptedException {
     Assert.assertEquals(
@@ -374,10 +377,7 @@ public void testExecute_simple()
             + "1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n",
         buildAndRun(simpleTestProject.getProjectRoot(), targetImage, "pom.xml", true));
 
-    Instant buildTime =
-        Instant.parse(
-            new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", targetImage).run().trim());
-    Assert.assertTrue(buildTime.isAfter(before) || buildTime.equals(before));
+    assertCreationTimeEpoch(targetImage);
     assertWorkingDirectory("/home", targetImage);
     assertLayerSize(8, targetImage);
   }
@@ -511,12 +511,14 @@ public void testExecute_defaultTarget() throws IOException {
   public void testExecute_complex()
       throws IOException, InterruptedException, VerificationException, DigestException {
     String targetImage = "localhost:6000/compleximage:maven" + System.nanoTime();
+    Instant before = Instant.now();
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "Hello, world. An argument.\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\nrwxr-xr-x\nrwxrwxrwx\nfoo\ncat\n"
             + "1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n"
             + "-Xms512m\n-Xdebug\nenvvalue1\nenvvalue2\n",
         buildAndRunComplex(
             targetImage, "testuser2", "testpassword2", localRegistry2, "pom-complex.xml"));
+    assertCreationTimeIsAfter(before, targetImage);
     assertWorkingDirectory("", targetImage);
     assertEntrypoint(
         "[java -Xms512m -Xdebug -cp /other:/app/resources:/app/classes:/app/libs/* "
@@ -525,14 +527,46 @@ public void testExecute_complex()
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testExecute_filesModificationTimeCustom()
+  public void testExecute_timestampCustom()
       throws IOException, InterruptedException, VerificationException, DigestException {
     String targetImage = "localhost:6000/simpleimage:maven" + System.nanoTime();
-    String pom = "pom-complex-files-modification-time-custom.xml";
+    String pom = "pom-timestamps-custom.xml";
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "Hello, world. \n2019-06-17T16:30:00Z\nrw-r--r--\nrw-r--r--\n"
             + "foo\ncat\n2019-06-17T16:30:00Z\n2019-06-17T16:30:00Z\n",
         buildAndRunComplex(targetImage, "testuser2", "testpassword2", localRegistry2, pom));
+
+    String inspect =
+        new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", targetImage).run().trim();
+    Instant parsed = Instant.parse(inspect);
+    Assert.assertEquals(Instant.parse("2013-11-05T06:29:30Z"), parsed);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDockerDaemon_timestampDeprecated()
+      throws IOException, VerificationException, InterruptedException {
+    Instant before = Instant.now();
+    String targetImage = getTestImageReference("simpleimage:gradle" + System.nanoTime());
+    build(simpleTestProject.getProjectRoot(), targetImage, "pom-usecurrent-deprecated.xml", false)
+        .verifyTextInLog(
+            "<container><useCurrentTimestamp> is deprecated; use <container><creationTime> with the value USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP instead");
+    new Command("docker", "pull", targetImage).run();
+    assertCreationTimeIsAfter(before, targetImage);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testDockerDaemon_timestampFail() throws IOException {
+    try {
+      String targetImage = getTestImageReference("simpleimage:gradle" + System.nanoTime());
+      build(
+          simpleTestProject.getProjectRoot(), targetImage, "pom-usecurrent-deprecated2.xml", false);
+      Assert.fail();
+    } catch (VerificationException ex) {
+      Assert.assertThat(
+          ex.getMessage(),
+          CoreMatchers.containsString(
+              "You cannot configure both <container><useCurrentTimestamp> and <container><creationTime>"));
+    }
   }
 
   @Test
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildTarMojoIntegrationTest.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildTarMojoIntegrationTest.java
index 19f231e98f..03643d68d4 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildTarMojoIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/BuildTarMojoIntegrationTest.java
@@ -19,7 +19,6 @@
 import com.google.cloud.tools.jib.Command;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.security.DigestException;
-import java.time.Instant;
 import java.util.Arrays;
 import org.apache.maven.it.VerificationException;
 import org.apache.maven.it.Verifier;
@@ -38,18 +37,11 @@ public class BuildTarMojoIntegrationTest {
   @ClassRule
   public static final TestProject skippedTestProject = new TestProject(testPlugin, "empty");
 
-  /**
-   * Builds and runs jib:buildTar on a project at {@code projectRoot} pushing to {@code
-   * imageReference}.
-   *
-   * @throws DigestException
-   */
   @Test
   public void testExecute_simple()
       throws VerificationException, IOException, InterruptedException, DigestException {
     String targetImage = "simpleimage:maven" + System.nanoTime();
 
-    Instant before = Instant.now();
     Verifier verifier = new Verifier(simpleTestProject.getProjectRoot().toString());
     verifier.setSystemProperty("jib.useOnlyProjectCache", "true");
     verifier.setSystemProperty("_TARGET_IMAGE", targetImage);
@@ -74,11 +66,9 @@ public void testExecute_simple()
     Assert.assertEquals(
         "Hello, world. An argument.\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\nrw-r--r--\nrw-r--r--\nfoo\ncat\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n1970-01-01T00:00:01Z\n",
         new Command("docker", "run", "--rm", targetImage).run());
-
-    Instant buildTime =
-        Instant.parse(
-            new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", targetImage).run().trim());
-    Assert.assertTrue(buildTime.isAfter(before) || buildTime.equals(before));
+    Assert.assertEquals(
+        "1970-01-01T00:00:00Z",
+        new Command("docker", "inspect", "-f", "{{.Created}}", targetImage).run().trim());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -95,7 +85,6 @@ public void testExecute_jibContainerizeSkips() throws VerificationException, IOE
   public void testExecute_jibRequireVersion_ok() throws VerificationException, IOException {
     String targetImage = "simpleimage:maven" + System.nanoTime();
 
-    Instant before = Instant.now();
     Verifier verifier = new Verifier(simpleTestProject.getProjectRoot().toString());
     // this plugin should match 1.0
     verifier.setSystemProperty("jib.requiredVersion", "1.0");
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/JibPluginConfigurationTest.java b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/JibPluginConfigurationTest.java
index 1457b52e85..14267a1c20 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/JibPluginConfigurationTest.java
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/maven/JibPluginConfigurationTest.java
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ public void testDefaults() {
     Assert.assertTrue(testPluginConfiguration.getExtraClasspath().isEmpty());
     Assert.assertEquals("exploded", testPluginConfiguration.getContainerizingMode());
     Assert.assertEquals("EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND", testPluginConfiguration.getFilesModificationTime());
+    Assert.assertEquals("EPOCH", testPluginConfiguration.getCreationTime());
   }
 
   @Test
@@ -123,6 +124,8 @@ public void testSystemProperties() {
     Assert.assertEquals("/working/directory", testPluginConfiguration.getWorkingDirectory());
     sessionProperties.put("jib.container.filesModificationTime", "2011-12-03T22:42:05Z");
     Assert.assertEquals("2011-12-03T22:42:05Z", testPluginConfiguration.getFilesModificationTime());
+    sessionProperties.put("jib.container.creationTime", "2011-12-03T22:42:05Z");
+    Assert.assertEquals("2011-12-03T22:42:05Z", testPluginConfiguration.getCreationTime());
     sessionProperties.put("jib.container.extraClasspath", "/foo,/bar");
     Assert.assertEquals(
         ImmutableList.of("/foo", "/bar"), testPluginConfiguration.getExtraClasspath());
@@ -194,6 +197,8 @@ public void testPomProperties() {
         .getProperties()
         .setProperty("jib.container.filesModificationTime", "2011-12-03T22:42:05Z");
     Assert.assertEquals("2011-12-03T22:42:05Z", testPluginConfiguration.getFilesModificationTime());
+    project.getProperties().setProperty("jib.container.creationTime", "2011-12-03T22:42:05Z");
+    Assert.assertEquals("2011-12-03T22:42:05Z", testPluginConfiguration.getCreationTime());
     project.getProperties().setProperty("jib.container.extraClasspath", "/foo,/bar");
     Assert.assertEquals(
         ImmutableList.of("/foo", "/bar"), testPluginConfiguration.getExtraClasspath());
@@ -228,7 +233,7 @@ public void testEmptyOrNullTags() {
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testDeprecatedSystemProperties() {
+  public void testDeprecatedSystemProperties_extraDirectory() {
     sessionProperties.put("jib.extraDirectory.path", "custom-jib");
     Assert.assertEquals(
         Arrays.asList(Paths.get("custom-jib")), testPluginConfiguration.getExtraDirectories());
@@ -247,7 +252,7 @@ public void testDeprecatedSystemProperties() {
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testDeprecatedProperties() {
+  public void testDeprecatedProperties_extraDirectory() {
     Properties projectProperties = project.getProperties();
 
     projectProperties.setProperty("jib.extraDirectory.path", "this-is-extra");
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-complex.xml b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-complex.xml
index 6c3a379ef3..82610e9c8e 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-complex.xml
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-complex.xml
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@
             </auth>
           </to>
           <container>
-            <useCurrentTimestamp>true</useCurrentTimestamp>
+            <creationTime>USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP</creationTime>
             <args>
               <arg>An argument.</arg>
             </args>
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-complex-files-modification-time-custom.xml b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-timestamps-custom.xml
similarity index 97%
rename from jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-complex-files-modification-time-custom.xml
rename to jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-timestamps-custom.xml
index 02acd783bd..e9928e11d8 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-complex-files-modification-time-custom.xml
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-timestamps-custom.xml
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@
             </auth>
           </to>
           <container>
-            <useCurrentTimestamp>true</useCurrentTimestamp>
             <ports>
               <port>1000/tcp</port>
               <port>2000-2003/udp</port>
@@ -64,6 +63,7 @@
               <key2>value2</key2>
             </labels>
             <filesModificationTime>2019-06-17T16:30:00Z</filesModificationTime>
+            <creationTime>2013-11-05T06:29:30Z</creationTime>
           </container>
           <extraDirectory>
             <path>src/main/jib-custom</path>
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-usecurrent-deprecated.xml b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-usecurrent-deprecated.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a666d0bebd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-usecurrent-deprecated.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+  <groupId>com.test</groupId>
+  <artifactId>hello-world</artifactId>
+  <version>1</version>
+
+  <properties>
+    <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
+    <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
+    <jib-maven-plugin.version>@@PluginVersion@@</jib-maven-plugin.version>
+  </properties>
+
+  <dependencies>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>com.test</groupId>
+      <artifactId>dependency</artifactId>
+      <version>1.0.0</version>
+      <scope>system</scope>
+      <systemPath>${project.basedir}/libs/dependency-1.0.0.jar</systemPath>
+    </dependency>
+  </dependencies>
+
+  <build>
+    <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+        <configuration>
+          <source>1.8</source>
+          <target>1.8</target>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
+
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>com.google.cloud.tools</groupId>
+        <artifactId>jib-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>${jib-maven-plugin.version}</version>
+        <configuration>
+          <to>
+            <image>${_TARGET_IMAGE}</image>
+          </to>
+          <container>
+            <useCurrentTimestamp>true</useCurrentTimestamp>
+          </container>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
+    </plugins>
+  </build>
+</project>
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-usecurrent-deprecated2.xml b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-usecurrent-deprecated2.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..1220d24bb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom-usecurrent-deprecated2.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,53 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<project xmlns="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0" xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
+    xsi:schemaLocation="http://maven.apache.org/POM/4.0.0 http://maven.apache.org/xsd/maven-4.0.0.xsd">
+  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+
+  <groupId>com.test</groupId>
+  <artifactId>hello-world</artifactId>
+  <version>1</version>
+
+  <properties>
+    <project.build.sourceEncoding>UTF-8</project.build.sourceEncoding>
+    <project.reporting.outputEncoding>UTF-8</project.reporting.outputEncoding>
+    <jib-maven-plugin.version>@@PluginVersion@@</jib-maven-plugin.version>
+  </properties>
+
+  <dependencies>
+    <dependency>
+      <groupId>com.test</groupId>
+      <artifactId>dependency</artifactId>
+      <version>1.0.0</version>
+      <scope>system</scope>
+      <systemPath>${project.basedir}/libs/dependency-1.0.0.jar</systemPath>
+    </dependency>
+  </dependencies>
+
+  <build>
+    <plugins>
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+        <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+        <configuration>
+          <source>1.8</source>
+          <target>1.8</target>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
+
+      <plugin>
+        <groupId>com.google.cloud.tools</groupId>
+        <artifactId>jib-maven-plugin</artifactId>
+        <version>${jib-maven-plugin.version}</version>
+        <configuration>
+          <to>
+            <image>${_TARGET_IMAGE}</image>
+          </to>
+          <container>
+            <useCurrentTimestamp>true</useCurrentTimestamp>
+            <creationTime>USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP</creationTime>
+          </container>
+        </configuration>
+      </plugin>
+    </plugins>
+  </build>
+</project>
diff --git a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom.xml b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom.xml
index 6d6776aa38..9847100fa3 100644
--- a/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom.xml
+++ b/jib-maven-plugin/src/test/resources/maven/projects/simple/pom.xml
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
             <image>${_TARGET_IMAGE}</image>
           </to>
           <container>
-            <useCurrentTimestamp>true</useCurrentTimestamp>
+            <creationTime>EPOCH</creationTime>
             <args>An argument.</args>
             <ports>
               <port>1000/tcp</port>
diff --git a/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/InvalidCreationTimeException.java b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/InvalidCreationTimeException.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..f24ca19583
--- /dev/null
+++ b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/InvalidCreationTimeException.java
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2019 Google LLC.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
+ * use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
+ * the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+ * WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+ * License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+ * the License.
+ */
+
+package com.google.cloud.tools.jib.plugins.common;
+
+import java.time.format.DateTimeParseException;
+
+/** Exception when an invalid container creation timestamp configuration is encountered. */
+public class InvalidCreationTimeException extends Exception {
+
+  private final String invalidValue;
+
+  public InvalidCreationTimeException(
+      String message, String invalidValue, DateTimeParseException ex) {
+    super(message, ex);
+    this.invalidValue = invalidValue;
+  }
+
+  public String getInvalidCreationTime() {
+    return invalidValue;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/InvalidFilesModificationTimeException.java b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/InvalidFilesModificationTimeException.java
index 421f328eb0..392fd1098b 100644
--- a/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/InvalidFilesModificationTimeException.java
+++ b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/InvalidFilesModificationTimeException.java
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 import java.time.format.DateTimeParseException;
 
+/** Exception when an invalid file timestamp configuration is encountered. */
 public class InvalidFilesModificationTimeException extends Exception {
 
   private final String invalidValue;
diff --git a/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PluginConfigurationProcessor.java b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PluginConfigurationProcessor.java
index 17e7889a93..64d6f97d8a 100644
--- a/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PluginConfigurationProcessor.java
+++ b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PluginConfigurationProcessor.java
@@ -67,7 +67,8 @@ public static PluginConfigurationProcessor processCommonConfigurationForDockerDa
       throws InvalidImageReferenceException, MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException,
           IOException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException, InvalidContainerVolumeException,
           IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException, NumberFormatException,
-          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException,
+          InvalidCreationTimeException {
     ImageReference targetImageReference =
         getGeneratedTargetDockerTag(rawConfiguration, projectProperties, helpfulSuggestions);
     DockerDaemonImage targetImage = DockerDaemonImage.named(targetImageReference);
@@ -97,7 +98,8 @@ public static PluginConfigurationProcessor processCommonConfigurationForTarImage
       throws InvalidImageReferenceException, MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException,
           IOException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException, InvalidContainerVolumeException,
           IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException, NumberFormatException,
-          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException,
+          InvalidCreationTimeException {
     ImageReference targetImageReference =
         getGeneratedTargetDockerTag(rawConfiguration, projectProperties, helpfulSuggestions);
     TarImage targetImage = TarImage.named(targetImageReference).saveTo(tarImagePath);
@@ -119,7 +121,8 @@ public static PluginConfigurationProcessor processCommonConfigurationForRegistry
       throws InvalidImageReferenceException, MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException,
           IOException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException, InvalidContainerVolumeException,
           IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException, NumberFormatException,
-          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException,
+          InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Preconditions.checkArgument(rawConfiguration.getToImage().isPresent());
 
     ImageReference targetImageReference = ImageReference.parse(rawConfiguration.getToImage().get());
@@ -160,7 +163,8 @@ static PluginConfigurationProcessor processCommonConfiguration(
       throws InvalidImageReferenceException, MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException,
           IOException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException, InvalidContainerVolumeException,
           IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException, NumberFormatException,
-          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException,
+          InvalidCreationTimeException {
     JibSystemProperties.checkHttpTimeoutProperty();
     JibSystemProperties.checkProxyPortProperty();
 
@@ -212,6 +216,9 @@ static PluginConfigurationProcessor processCommonConfiguration(
           LogEvent.warn(
               "Setting image creation time to current time; your image may not be reproducible."));
       jibContainerBuilder.setCreationTime(Instant.now());
+    } else {
+      jibContainerBuilder.setCreationTime(
+          getCreationTime(rawConfiguration.getCreationTime(), projectProperties));
     }
 
     // Adds all the extra files.
@@ -474,6 +481,43 @@ static BiFunction<Path, AbsoluteUnixPath, Instant> createModificationTimeProvide
     }
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Creates an {@link Instant} based on the config value. The value can be:
+   *
+   * <ol>
+   *   <li>{@code EPOCH} to return epoch
+   *   <li>{@code USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP} to return the current time
+   *   <li>date in ISO 8601 format
+   * </ol>
+   *
+   * @param configuredCreationTime the config value
+   * @param projectProperties used for logging warnings
+   * @return corresponding {@link Instant}
+   * @throws InvalidCreationTimeException if the config value is invalid
+   */
+  @VisibleForTesting
+  static Instant getCreationTime(String configuredCreationTime, ProjectProperties projectProperties)
+      throws DateTimeParseException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
+    try {
+      switch (configuredCreationTime) {
+        case "EPOCH":
+          return Instant.EPOCH;
+
+        case "USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP":
+          projectProperties.log(
+              LogEvent.warn(
+                  "Setting image creation time to current time; your image may not be reproducible."));
+          return Instant.now();
+
+        default:
+          return DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME.parse(configuredCreationTime, Instant::from);
+      }
+
+    } catch (DateTimeParseException ex) {
+      throw new InvalidCreationTimeException(configuredCreationTime, configuredCreationTime, ex);
+    }
+  }
+
   // TODO: find a way to reduce the number of arguments.
   private static boolean configureCredentialRetrievers(
       RawConfiguration rawConfiguration,
diff --git a/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PropertyNames.java b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PropertyNames.java
index 9fe63a276d..132ed6a0ec 100644
--- a/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PropertyNames.java
+++ b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PropertyNames.java
@@ -42,19 +42,14 @@ public class PropertyNames {
   public static final String CONTAINER_WORKING_DIRECTORY = "jib.container.workingDirectory";
   public static final String CONTAINER_VOLUMES = "jib.container.volumes";
   public static final String CONTAINER_PORTS = "jib.container.ports";
-  public static final String CONTAINER_USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP = "jib.container.useCurrentTimestamp";
   public static final String CONTAINER_FILES_MODIFICATION_TIME =
       "jib.container.filesModificationTime";
+  public static final String CONTAINER_CREATION_TIME = "jib.container.creationTime";
   public static final String USE_ONLY_PROJECT_CACHE = "jib.useOnlyProjectCache";
   public static final String BASE_IMAGE_CACHE = "jib.baseImageCache";
   public static final String APPLICATION_CACHE = "jib.applicationCache";
   public static final String ALLOW_INSECURE_REGISTRIES = "jib.allowInsecureRegistries";
-  @Deprecated public static final String EXTRA_DIRECTORY_PATH = "jib.extraDirectory.path";
   public static final String EXTRA_DIRECTORIES_PATHS = "jib.extraDirectories.paths";
-
-  @Deprecated
-  public static final String EXTRA_DIRECTORY_PERMISSIONS = "jib.extraDirectory.permissions";
-
   public static final String EXTRA_DIRECTORIES_PERMISSIONS = "jib.extraDirectories.permissions";
   public static final String DOCKER_CLIENT_EXECUTABLE = "jib.dockerClient.executable";
   public static final String DOCKER_CLIENT_ENVIRONMENT = "jib.dockerClient.environment";
@@ -63,5 +58,13 @@ public class PropertyNames {
   public static final String CONSOLE = "jib.console";
   public static final String CONTAINERIZE = "jib.containerize";
 
+  @Deprecated
+  public static final String CONTAINER_USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP = "jib.container.useCurrentTimestamp";
+
+  @Deprecated public static final String EXTRA_DIRECTORY_PATH = "jib.extraDirectory.path";
+
+  @Deprecated
+  public static final String EXTRA_DIRECTORY_PERMISSIONS = "jib.extraDirectory.permissions";
+
   private PropertyNames() {}
 }
diff --git a/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/RawConfiguration.java b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/RawConfiguration.java
index 92c57636dc..72f308c8e8 100644
--- a/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/RawConfiguration.java
+++ b/jib-plugins-common/src/main/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/RawConfiguration.java
@@ -69,6 +69,7 @@ public interface RawConfiguration {
 
   Optional<String> getWorkingDirectory();
 
+  @Deprecated
   boolean getUseCurrentTimestamp();
 
   boolean getAllowInsecureRegistries();
@@ -79,6 +80,8 @@ public interface RawConfiguration {
 
   String getFilesModificationTime();
 
+  String getCreationTime();
+
   List<Path> getExtraDirectories();
 
   Map<AbsoluteUnixPath, FilePermissions> getExtraDirectoryPermissions();
diff --git a/jib-plugins-common/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PluginConfigurationProcessorTest.java b/jib-plugins-common/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PluginConfigurationProcessorTest.java
index d32a804441..1c5e42b41d 100644
--- a/jib-plugins-common/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PluginConfigurationProcessorTest.java
+++ b/jib-plugins-common/src/test/java/com/google/cloud/tools/jib/plugins/common/PluginConfigurationProcessorTest.java
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ public void setUp() throws IOException, InvalidImageReferenceException {
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getEntrypoint()).thenReturn(Optional.empty());
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getAppRoot()).thenReturn("/app");
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getFilesModificationTime()).thenReturn("EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND");
+    Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getCreationTime()).thenReturn("EPOCH");
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getExtraDirectories())
         .thenReturn(Arrays.asList(Paths.get("nonexistent/path")));
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getContainerizingMode()).thenReturn("exploded");
@@ -130,7 +131,7 @@ public void testPluginConfigurationProcessor_defaults()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     PluginConfigurationProcessor processor = createPluginConfigurationProcessor();
     BuildConfiguration buildConfiguration =
         getBuildConfiguration(processor.getJibContainerBuilder());
@@ -154,7 +155,8 @@ public void testPluginConfigurationProcessor_extraDirectory()
           InvalidAppRootException, IOException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           InvalidWorkingDirectoryException, InvalidImageReferenceException,
           CacheDirectoryCreationException, NumberFormatException,
-          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException,
+          InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Path extraDirectory = Paths.get(Resources.getResource("core/layer").toURI());
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getExtraDirectories()).thenReturn(Arrays.asList(extraDirectory));
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getExtraDirectoryPermissions())
@@ -200,7 +202,8 @@ public void testPluginConfigurationProcessor_cacheDirectorySystemProperties()
       throws InvalidContainerVolumeException, MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException,
           IOException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException, InvalidImageReferenceException,
           IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException, NumberFormatException,
-          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException,
+          InvalidCreationTimeException {
     System.setProperty(PropertyNames.BASE_IMAGE_CACHE, "new/base/cache");
     System.setProperty(PropertyNames.APPLICATION_CACHE, "/new/application/cache");
 
@@ -215,7 +218,8 @@ public void testPluginConfigurationProcessor_warProjectBaseImage()
       throws InvalidImageReferenceException, MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException,
           IOException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException, InvalidContainerVolumeException,
           IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException, NumberFormatException,
-          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException,
+          InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(projectProperties.isWarProject()).thenReturn(true);
 
     PluginConfigurationProcessor processor = createPluginConfigurationProcessor();
@@ -232,7 +236,7 @@ public void testEntrypoint()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getEntrypoint())
         .thenReturn(Optional.of(Arrays.asList("custom", "entrypoint")));
 
@@ -294,7 +298,7 @@ public void testEntrypoint_defaultWarPackaging()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getEntrypoint()).thenReturn(Optional.empty());
     Mockito.when(projectProperties.isWarProject()).thenReturn(true);
 
@@ -313,7 +317,7 @@ public void testEntrypoint_defaultNonWarPackaging()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getEntrypoint()).thenReturn(Optional.empty());
     Mockito.when(projectProperties.isWarProject()).thenReturn(false);
 
@@ -336,7 +340,7 @@ public void testEntrypoint_extraClasspathNonWarPackaging()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getEntrypoint()).thenReturn(Optional.empty());
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getExtraClasspath())
         .thenReturn(Collections.singletonList("/foo"));
@@ -362,7 +366,7 @@ public void testUser()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getUser()).thenReturn(Optional.of("customUser"));
 
     PluginConfigurationProcessor processor = createPluginConfigurationProcessor();
@@ -379,7 +383,7 @@ public void testUser_null()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     PluginConfigurationProcessor processor = createPluginConfigurationProcessor();
     BuildConfiguration buildConfiguration =
         getBuildConfiguration(processor.getJibContainerBuilder());
@@ -394,7 +398,7 @@ public void testEntrypoint_warningOnJvmFlags()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getEntrypoint())
         .thenReturn(Optional.of(Arrays.asList("custom", "entrypoint")));
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getJvmFlags()).thenReturn(Collections.singletonList("jvmFlag"));
@@ -419,7 +423,7 @@ public void testEntrypoint_warningOnMainclass()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getEntrypoint())
         .thenReturn(Optional.of(Arrays.asList("custom", "entrypoint")));
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getMainClass()).thenReturn(Optional.of("java.util.Object"));
@@ -444,7 +448,7 @@ public void testEntrypointClasspath_nonDefaultAppRoot()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(rawConfiguration.getAppRoot()).thenReturn("/my/app");
 
     PluginConfigurationProcessor processor = createPluginConfigurationProcessor();
@@ -468,7 +472,7 @@ public void testWebAppEntrypoint_inheritedFromBaseImage()
           MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException,
           InvalidContainerVolumeException, IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException,
           NumberFormatException, InvalidContainerizingModeException,
-          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidFilesModificationTimeException, InvalidCreationTimeException {
     Mockito.when(projectProperties.isWarProject()).thenReturn(true);
 
     PluginConfigurationProcessor processor = createPluginConfigurationProcessor();
@@ -853,7 +857,7 @@ public void testGetInvalidVolumesList() {
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void createModificationTimeProvider_epochPlusSecond()
+  public void testCreateModificationTimeProvider_epochPlusSecond()
       throws InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
     BiFunction<Path, AbsoluteUnixPath, Instant> timeProvider =
         PluginConfigurationProcessor.createModificationTimeProvider("EPOCH_PLUS_SECOND");
@@ -863,7 +867,7 @@ public void createModificationTimeProvider_epochPlusSecond()
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void createModificationTimeProvider_isoDateTimeValue()
+  public void testCreateModificationTimeProvider_isoDateTimeValue()
       throws InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
     BiFunction<Path, AbsoluteUnixPath, Instant> timeProvider =
         PluginConfigurationProcessor.createModificationTimeProvider("2011-12-03T10:15:30+09:00");
@@ -873,7 +877,7 @@ public void createModificationTimeProvider_isoDateTimeValue()
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void createModificationTimeProvider_invalidValue() {
+  public void testCreateModificationTimeProvider_invalidValue() {
     try {
       BiFunction<Path, AbsoluteUnixPath, Instant> timeProvider =
           PluginConfigurationProcessor.createModificationTimeProvider("invalid format");
@@ -885,11 +889,46 @@ public void createModificationTimeProvider_invalidValue() {
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  public void testGetCreationTime_epoch() throws InvalidCreationTimeException {
+    Instant time = PluginConfigurationProcessor.getCreationTime("EPOCH", projectProperties);
+    Assert.assertEquals(Instant.EPOCH, time);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testGetCreationTime_useCurrentTimestamp() throws InvalidCreationTimeException {
+    Instant now = Instant.now().minusSeconds(2);
+    Instant time =
+        PluginConfigurationProcessor.getCreationTime("USE_CURRENT_TIMESTAMP", projectProperties);
+    Assert.assertTrue(time.isAfter(now));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testGetCreationTime_isoDateTimeValue() throws InvalidCreationTimeException {
+    Instant time =
+        PluginConfigurationProcessor.getCreationTime(
+            "2011-12-03T10:15:30+09:00", projectProperties);
+    Instant expected = DateTimeFormatter.ISO_DATE_TIME.parse("2011-12-03T01:15:30Z", Instant::from);
+    Assert.assertEquals(expected, time);
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  public void testGetCreationTime_invalidValue() {
+    try {
+      PluginConfigurationProcessor.getCreationTime("invalid format", projectProperties);
+      Assert.fail();
+    } catch (InvalidCreationTimeException ex) {
+      Assert.assertEquals("invalid format", ex.getMessage());
+      Assert.assertEquals("invalid format", ex.getInvalidCreationTime());
+    }
+  }
+
   private PluginConfigurationProcessor createPluginConfigurationProcessor()
       throws InvalidImageReferenceException, MainClassInferenceException, InvalidAppRootException,
           IOException, InvalidWorkingDirectoryException, InvalidContainerVolumeException,
           IncompatibleBaseImageJavaVersionException, NumberFormatException,
-          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException {
+          InvalidContainerizingModeException, InvalidFilesModificationTimeException,
+          InvalidCreationTimeException {
     return PluginConfigurationProcessor.processCommonConfiguration(
         rawConfiguration,
         ignored -> Optional.empty(),