diff --git a/internal/entity/photo.go b/internal/entity/photo.go
index 61e726ce4..f5b4b66de 100644
--- a/internal/entity/photo.go
+++ b/internal/entity/photo.go
@@ -455,8 +455,6 @@ func (m *Photo) SetTakenAt(taken, local time.Time, zone, source string) {
 
 	if zone != "" {
 		m.TimeZone = zone
-	} else {
-		m.TimeZone = time.UTC.String()
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/internal/photoprism/index_mediafile.go b/internal/photoprism/index_mediafile.go
index 05418d1e2..53ab6a8d7 100644
--- a/internal/photoprism/index_mediafile.go
+++ b/internal/photoprism/index_mediafile.go
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ func (ind *Index) MediaFile(m *MediaFile, o IndexOptions, originalName string) (
 		}
 
 		if photo.TakenAt.IsZero() || photo.TakenAtLocal.IsZero() {
-			photo.SetTakenAt(m.DateCreated(), m.DateCreated(), time.UTC.String(), entity.SrcAuto)
+			photo.SetTakenAt(m.DateCreated(), m.DateCreated(), "", entity.SrcAuto)
 		}
 
 		if fileChanged || o.UpdateKeywords || o.UpdateLocation || o.UpdateTitle || photo.NoTitle() {