diff --git a/interfaces/builtin/time_control.go b/interfaces/builtin/time_control.go
index b7359bdd2c5..91f5cf69a88 100644
--- a/interfaces/builtin/time_control.go
+++ b/interfaces/builtin/time_control.go
@@ -93,6 +93,9 @@ capability sys_time,
 /sys/class/rtc/*/ rw,
 /sys/class/rtc/*/** rw,
 
+# Nodes in /sys/class/rtc could be symlinks under /sys/devices
+/sys/devices/**/rtc/*/** rw,
+
 # Allow access to pps
 # https://www.kernel.org/doc/html/latest/driver-api/pps.html
 /dev/pps[0-9]* rw,
diff --git a/tests/lib/snaps/test-snapd-timedate-control-consumer/meta/snap.yaml b/tests/lib/snaps/test-snapd-timedate-control-consumer/meta/snap.yaml
index 003a48dcf2f..a9ce8907a55 100644
--- a/tests/lib/snaps/test-snapd-timedate-control-consumer/meta/snap.yaml
+++ b/tests/lib/snaps/test-snapd-timedate-control-consumer/meta/snap.yaml
@@ -19,3 +19,6 @@ apps:
     date:
         command: bin/date
         plugs: [time-control]
+    shell:
+        command: bin/sh
+        plugs: [time-control]
diff --git a/tests/main/interfaces-time-control/task.yaml b/tests/main/interfaces-time-control/task.yaml
index 7427b56d567..671df3787a8 100644
--- a/tests/main/interfaces-time-control/task.yaml
+++ b/tests/main/interfaces-time-control/task.yaml
@@ -81,3 +81,6 @@ execute: |
     not test-snapd-timedate-control-consumer.date "$now" 2> call.error
     # EPERM because date gets blocked by the seccomp profile
     MATCH "cannot set date: Operation not permitted" < call.error
+
+    # make sure that we can access the files in /sys/class/rtc
+    test-snapd-timedate-control-consumer.shell -c "cat /sys/class/rtc/rtc0/wakealarm"