diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b6d5708503..887986fcb7 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -184,6 +184,19 @@ For a quick fix the below command will install the latest keyrings
 
 ```pacman -Sy archlinux-keyring```
 
+## PGP verification errors pacstrap
+
+This can occur if the **timezone selected** is incorrect and/or hardware clock in motherboard settings is not accurate (fails during verification of packages at first base-strap). Ie. when CMOS battery is dead and power cut-off happens this can reset other settings such as Clock, Sata Mode, Fast Boot, etc...
+
+For **offline installs** can set manually via:
+
+```
+timedatectl status
+timedatectl set-time "YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS"
+```
+
+Or in motherboard settings directly ! If you have internet and picked your timezone properly in the menu, NTP handles this by default.
+
 ## How to dual boot with Windows
 
 To install Arch Linux alongside an existing Windows installation using  `archinstall`, follow these steps:
diff --git a/archinstall/lib/args.py b/archinstall/lib/args.py
index f654345be9..5d0eb0e60f 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/args.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/args.py
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ class ArchConfig:
 	packages: list[str] = field(default_factory=list)
 	parallel_downloads: int = 0
 	swap: bool = True
-	timezone: str = 'UTC'
+	timezone: str | None = None
 	services: list[str] = field(default_factory=list)
 	custom_commands: list[str] = field(default_factory=list)
 
@@ -213,7 +213,7 @@ def from_config(cls, args_config: dict[str, Any], args: Arguments) -> 'ArchConfi
 
 		arch_config.swap = args_config.get('swap', True)
 
-		if timezone := args_config.get('timezone', 'UTC'):
+		if timezone := args_config.get('timezone', None):
 			arch_config.timezone = timezone
 
 		if services := args_config.get('services', []):
diff --git a/archinstall/lib/global_menu.py b/archinstall/lib/global_menu.py
index 8c13daf402..23eb53947e 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/global_menu.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/global_menu.py
@@ -150,9 +150,10 @@ def _get_menu_options(self) -> list[MenuItem]:
 			MenuItem(
 				text=tr('Timezone'),
 				action=ask_for_a_timezone,
-				value='UTC',
+				value=None,
 				preview_action=self._prev_tz,
 				key='timezone',
+				mandatory=True,
 			),
 			MenuItem(
 				text=tr('Automatic time sync (NTP)'),
@@ -330,7 +331,12 @@ def _prev_applications(self, item: MenuItem) -> str | None:
 
 	def _prev_tz(self, item: MenuItem) -> str | None:
 		if item.value:
-			return f'{tr("Timezone")}: {item.value}'
+			output = f'{tr("Timezone")}: {item.value}'
+			return output
+		else:
+			# Show RTC time when no timezone is selected yet
+			if rtc_time := SysInfo.hw_clock():
+				return f'RTC time: {rtc_time}'
 		return None
 
 	def _prev_ntp(self, item: MenuItem) -> str | None:
diff --git a/archinstall/lib/hardware.py b/archinstall/lib/hardware.py
index e1278dfad4..338dae4a93 100644
--- a/archinstall/lib/hardware.py
+++ b/archinstall/lib/hardware.py
@@ -143,6 +143,13 @@ class _SysInfo:
 	def __init__(self) -> None:
 		pass
 
+	def hw_clock(self) -> str:
+		"""
+		Returns the RTC (hardware clock) time from timedatectl
+		"""
+		time = SysCommand('timedatectl show --property=RTCTimeUSec --value').decode().strip()
+		return time
+
 	@cached_property
 	def cpu_info(self) -> dict[str, str]:
 		"""
@@ -207,6 +214,10 @@ def has_wifi() -> bool:
 	def has_uefi() -> bool:
 		return os.path.isdir('/sys/firmware/efi')
 
+	@staticmethod
+	def hw_clock() -> str:
+		return _sys_info.hw_clock()
+
 	@staticmethod
 	def _graphics_devices() -> dict[str, str]:
 		cards: dict[str, str] = {}