From bf8f3d7076416fe128f853a8632c96cca84b29d4 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001
From: "J. Nick Koston" <nick@home-assistant.io>
Date: Thu, 15 Jan 2026 13:21:59 -1000
Subject: [PATCH] better handle 2038

---
 esphome/components/time/real_time_clock.cpp | 3 ++-
 1 file changed, 2 insertions(+), 1 deletion(-)

diff --git a/esphome/components/time/real_time_clock.cpp b/esphome/components/time/real_time_clock.cpp
index cec9711dfb..1d0695466b 100644
--- a/esphome/components/time/real_time_clock.cpp
+++ b/esphome/components/time/real_time_clock.cpp
@@ -35,7 +35,8 @@ void RealTimeClock::synchronize_epoch_(uint32_t epoch) {
   // and prevent clock jumping backwards due to network latency
   auto current = this->utcnow();
   if (current.is_valid()) {
-    int32_t diff = static_cast<int32_t>(epoch) - static_cast<int32_t>(current.timestamp);
+    // Unsigned subtraction handles wraparound correctly, then cast to signed
+    int32_t diff = static_cast<int32_t>(epoch - current.timestamp);
     if (diff >= -1 && diff <= 1) {
       return;
     }