diff --git a/src/output-json-alert.c b/src/output-json-alert.c
index c81a0f26d1..e27d3d1f64 100644
--- a/src/output-json-alert.c
+++ b/src/output-json-alert.c
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ static int AlertJsonDecoderEvent(ThreadVars *tv, JsonAlertLogThread *aft, const
 
     MemBufferReset(buffer);
 
-    CreateTimeString(&p->ts, timebuf, sizeof(timebuf));
+    CreateIsoTimeString(&p->ts, timebuf, sizeof(timebuf));
 
     for (i = 0; i < p->alerts.cnt; i++) {
         const PacketAlert *pa = &p->alerts.alerts[i];
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ static int AlertJsonDecoderEvent(ThreadVars *tv, JsonAlertLogThread *aft, const
         }
 
         /* time & tx */
-        json_object_set_new(js, "time", json_string(timebuf));
+        json_object_set_new(js, "timestamp", json_string(timebuf));
 
         /* tuple */
         //json_object_set_new(js, "srcip", json_string(srcip));
diff --git a/src/output-json.c b/src/output-json.c
index 999cbef1db..7c357cebba 100644
--- a/src/output-json.c
+++ b/src/output-json.c
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ json_t *CreateJSONHeader(Packet *p, int direction_sensitive, char *event_type)
     if (unlikely(js == NULL))
         return NULL;
 
-    CreateTimeString(&p->ts, timebuf, sizeof(timebuf));
+    CreateIsoTimeString(&p->ts, timebuf, sizeof(timebuf));
 
     srcip[0] = '\0';
     dstip[0] = '\0';
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ json_t *CreateJSONHeader(Packet *p, int direction_sensitive, char *event_type)
     }
 
     /* time & tx */
-    json_object_set_new(js, "time", json_string(timebuf));
+    json_object_set_new(js, "timestamp", json_string(timebuf));
 
     /* sensor id */
     if (sensor_id >= 0)
diff --git a/src/util-time.c b/src/util-time.c
index 614afd916d..e8f6fe107d 100644
--- a/src/util-time.c
+++ b/src/util-time.c
@@ -35,6 +35,9 @@ static struct timeval current_time = { 0, 0 };
 static SCSpinlock current_time_spinlock;
 static char live = TRUE;
 
+
+struct tm *SCLocalTime(time_t timep, struct tm *result);
+
 void TimeInit(void)
 {
     SCSpinInit(&current_time_spinlock, 0);
@@ -120,6 +123,17 @@ void TimeSetIncrementTime(uint32_t tv_sec)
     TimeSet(&tv);
 }
 
+void CreateIsoTimeString (const struct timeval *ts, char *str, size_t size)
+{
+    time_t time = ts->tv_sec;
+    struct tm local_tm;
+    struct tm *t = (struct tm*)SCLocalTime(time, &local_tm);
+
+    snprintf(str, size, "%04d-%02d-%02dT%02d:%02d:%02d.%06u",
+             t->tm_year + 1900, t->tm_mon + 1, t->tm_mday, t->tm_hour,
+             t->tm_min, t->tm_sec, (uint32_t) ts->tv_usec);
+}
+
 /*
  * Time Caching code
  */
diff --git a/src/util-time.h b/src/util-time.h
index fe930ff105..cdf1d5bf7a 100644
--- a/src/util-time.h
+++ b/src/util-time.h
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ void TimeModeSetOffline (void);
 
 struct tm *SCLocalTime(time_t timep, struct tm *result);
 void CreateTimeString (const struct timeval *ts, char *str, size_t size);
+void CreateIsoTimeString (const struct timeval *ts, char *str, size_t size);
 
 #endif /* __UTIL_TIME_H__ */