diff --git a/init.d/swclock.in b/init.d/swclock.in
index 2d7187ba2..08b1d2c7c 100644
--- a/init.d/swclock.in
+++ b/init.d/swclock.in
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ swclock_file="${swclock_file:-/var/lib/misc/openrc-shutdowntime}"
 depend()
 {
 	provide clock
+	use bootmisc
 	keyword -docker -podman -lxc -openvz -prefix -systemd-nspawn -uml -vserver -xenu -wsl
 }
 
@@ -22,9 +23,12 @@ depend()
 
 start()
 {
+	local fallback_file="@SBINDIR@/openrc-run"
+
 	ebegin "Setting the local clock based on last shutdown time"
 	if ! swclock "${swclock_file}" 2> /dev/null; then
-	swclock --warn @SBINDIR@/openrc-run
+		swclock --warn "${fallback_file}"
+		ewarn "Falling back to ${fallback_file} as clock reference"
 	fi
 	eend $?
 }
@@ -32,6 +36,7 @@ start()
 stop()
 {
 	ebegin "Saving the shutdown time"
+	checkpath -f -W -o root:root -m 0644 "${swclock_file}"
 	swclock --save "${swclock_file}"
 	eend $?
 }