diff --git a/src/defs.h b/src/defs.h
index fe96722..eef15de 100644
--- a/src/defs.h
+++ b/src/defs.h
@@ -43,6 +43,8 @@
 #define SECONDS_PER_DAY	8.6400E4
 ///Difference between libpredict's predict_julian_date_t and the julian time format used in some of the internal functions
 #define JULIAN_TIME_DIFF 2444238.5
+///Unix timeststamp of 1979-12-31 00:00:00
+#define JULIAN_START_DAY 315446400
 ///@}
 
 /** \name Physical properties
diff --git a/src/julian_date.c b/src/julian_date.c
index 1e81392..d079c21 100644
--- a/src/julian_date.c
+++ b/src/julian_date.c
@@ -5,76 +5,14 @@
 
 #include "defs.h"
 
-/**
- * Create time_t in UTC from struct tm.
- *
- * \param timeinfo_utc Broken down time, assumed to be in UTC
- * \return Time in UTC
- **/
-time_t mktime_utc(const struct tm* timeinfo_utc)
-{
-	time_t curr_time = time(NULL);
-	int timezone_diff = 0; //deviation of the current timezone from UTC in seconds
-
-	//get UTC time, interpret resulting tm as a localtime
-	struct tm timeinfo_gmt;
-	gmtime_r(&curr_time, &timeinfo_gmt);
-	time_t time_gmt = mktime(&timeinfo_gmt);
-
-	//get localtime, interpret resulting tm as localtime
-	struct tm timeinfo_local;
-	localtime_r(&curr_time, &timeinfo_local);
-	time_t time_local = mktime(&timeinfo_local);
-
-	//find the time difference between the two interpretations
-	timezone_diff += difftime(time_local, time_gmt);
-
-	//hack for preventing mktime from assuming localtime: add timezone difference to the input struct.
-	struct tm ret_timeinfo;
-	ret_timeinfo.tm_sec = timeinfo_utc->tm_sec + timezone_diff;
-	ret_timeinfo.tm_min = timeinfo_utc->tm_min;
-	ret_timeinfo.tm_hour = timeinfo_utc->tm_hour;
-	ret_timeinfo.tm_mday = timeinfo_utc->tm_mday;
-	ret_timeinfo.tm_mon = timeinfo_utc->tm_mon;
-	ret_timeinfo.tm_year = timeinfo_utc->tm_year;
-	ret_timeinfo.tm_isdst = timeinfo_utc->tm_isdst;
-	return mktime(&ret_timeinfo);
-}
-
-/**
- * Helper function for getting the Julian day start date (1979-12-31 00:00 UTC) as time_t.
- *
- * \return Internally defined Julian start date (fixed)
- **/
-time_t get_julian_start_day()
-{
-	struct tm start_time;
-	start_time.tm_sec = 0;
-	start_time.tm_min = 0;
-	start_time.tm_hour = 0;
-	start_time.tm_mday = 31;
-	start_time.tm_mon = 11;
-	start_time.tm_year = 1979-1900;
-	start_time.tm_isdst = 0;
-	return mktime_utc(&start_time);
-}
-
 predict_julian_date_t predict_to_julian(time_t input_time)
 {
 	//get number of seconds since 1979-12-31 00:00:00 UTC, convert to days
-	double seconds = difftime(input_time, get_julian_start_day());
+	double seconds = difftime(input_time, JULIAN_START_DAY);
 	return seconds/SECONDS_PER_DAY;
 }
 
 time_t predict_from_julian(predict_julian_date_t date)
 {
-	double seconds_since = date*SECONDS_PER_DAY;
-	time_t ret_time = get_julian_start_day();
-	
-	//add number of seconds since julian start day to the julian start day, get current time_t
-	struct tm timeinfo;
-	gmtime_r(&ret_time, &timeinfo); 
-	timeinfo.tm_sec += seconds_since;
-	ret_time = mktime_utc(&timeinfo);
-	return ret_time;
+	return date * SECONDS_PER_DAY + JULIAN_START_DAY;
 }