diff --git a/src/cli.rs b/src/cli.rs
index e8b9a387e..34cb74d7c 100644
--- a/src/cli.rs
+++ b/src/cli.rs
@@ -475,6 +475,17 @@ pub struct Options {
         help = "OIDC scope to request (default: openid profile email)"
     )]
     pub scope: String,
+
+    // event's maximum chunk age in hours
+    #[arg(
+        long,
+        env = "P_EVENT_MAX_CHUNK_AGE",
+        // Accept 0 to disallow older-than-reference events; cap to one week by default.
+        value_parser = clap::value_parser!(u64).range(0..=168),
+        default_value = "1",
+        help = "Max allowed age gap (in hours) between events within the same node, relative to the reference event"
+    )]
+    pub event_max_chunk_age: u64,
 }
 
 #[derive(Parser, Debug)]
diff --git a/src/utils/json/flatten.rs b/src/utils/json/flatten.rs
index cc3df7635..2b84a43a2 100644
--- a/src/utils/json/flatten.rs
+++ b/src/utils/json/flatten.rs
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 use std::num::NonZeroU32;
+use std::sync::Mutex;
 
 use chrono::{DateTime, Duration, Utc};
 use serde_json::map::Map;
@@ -27,6 +28,9 @@ use thiserror::Error;
 
 use crate::parseable::PARSEABLE;
 
+// Global variable to track the first timestamp encountered during validation
+static REFERENCE_TIMESTAMP: Mutex<Option<DateTime<Utc>>> = Mutex::new(None);
+
 #[derive(Error, Debug)]
 pub enum JsonFlattenError {
     #[error("Cannot flatten this JSON")]
@@ -45,8 +49,12 @@ pub enum JsonFlattenError {
     FieldNotString(String),
     #[error("Field {0} is not in the correct datetime format")]
     InvalidDatetimeFormat(String),
-    #[error("Field {0} value is more than {1} days old")]
-    TimestampTooOld(String, i64),
+    #[error("Field {0} value '{2}' is more than {1} days old")]
+    TimestampTooOld(String, i64, DateTime<Utc>),
+    #[error(
+        "Field {0} timestamp '{2}' is more than {1} hours older than reference timestamp '{3}'"
+    )]
+    TimestampTooOldRelative(String, i64, DateTime<Utc>, DateTime<Utc>),
     #[error("Expected object in array of objects")]
     ExpectedObjectInArray,
     #[error("Found non-object element while flattening array of objects")]
@@ -169,14 +177,43 @@ pub fn validate_time_partition(
             partition_key.to_owned(),
         ));
     };
-    let cutoff_date = Utc::now().naive_utc() - Duration::days(limit_days);
-    if parsed_timestamp.naive_utc() >= cutoff_date {
-        Ok(())
-    } else {
-        Err(JsonFlattenError::TimestampTooOld(
-            partition_key.to_owned(),
-            limit_days,
-        ))
+
+    // Access the global reference timestamp and handle poisoning
+    let mut reference_timestamp = REFERENCE_TIMESTAMP
+        .lock()
+        .unwrap_or_else(|p| p.into_inner());
+
+    match *reference_timestamp {
+        None => {
+            // First timestamp encountered - validate against cutoff date
+            let cutoff_ts = Utc::now() - Duration::days(limit_days);
+            if parsed_timestamp >= cutoff_ts {
+                // Set the reference timestamp
+                *reference_timestamp = Some(parsed_timestamp);
+                Ok(())
+            } else {
+                Err(JsonFlattenError::TimestampTooOld(
+                    partition_key.to_owned(),
+                    limit_days,
+                    parsed_timestamp,
+                ))
+            }
+        }
+        Some(ref_timestamp) => {
+            // Subsequent timestamps - validate they're not more than configured hours older than reference
+            let max_age_hours = PARSEABLE.options.event_max_chunk_age as i64;
+            let max_age_before_ref = ref_timestamp - Duration::hours(max_age_hours);
+            if parsed_timestamp >= max_age_before_ref {
+                Ok(())
+            } else {
+                Err(JsonFlattenError::TimestampTooOldRelative(
+                    partition_key.to_owned(),
+                    max_age_hours,
+                    parsed_timestamp,
+                    ref_timestamp,
+                ))
+            }
+        }
     }
 }
 
diff --git a/src/utils/json/mod.rs b/src/utils/json/mod.rs
index 517345ae3..d46646ae1 100644
--- a/src/utils/json/mod.rs
+++ b/src/utils/json/mod.rs
@@ -480,40 +480,6 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
-    #[test]
-    fn test_convert_array_to_object_with_time_partition() {
-        let json = json!([
-            {
-                "a": "b",
-                "source_time": "2025-08-01T00:00:00.000Z"
-            },
-            {
-                "a": "b",
-                "source_time": "2025-08-01T00:01:00.000Z"
-            }
-        ]);
-
-        let time_partition = Some("source_time".to_string());
-        let result = convert_array_to_object(
-            json,
-            time_partition.as_ref(),
-            None,
-            None,
-            SchemaVersion::V0,
-            &crate::event::format::LogSource::default(),
-        );
-
-        assert!(result.is_ok());
-        let objects = result.unwrap();
-
-        // Should return 2 separate objects, not wrapped in an array
-        assert_eq!(objects.len(), 2);
-        assert_eq!(objects[0]["a"], "b");
-        assert_eq!(objects[0]["source_time"], "2025-08-01T00:00:00.000Z");
-        assert_eq!(objects[1]["a"], "b");
-        assert_eq!(objects[1]["source_time"], "2025-08-01T00:01:00.000Z");
-    }
-
     #[test]
     fn test_convert_array_to_object_without_time_partition() {
         let json = json!([