diff --git a/src/libsysprof-analyze/sysprof-document.c b/src/libsysprof-analyze/sysprof-document.c
index c353cb9b..47ca0fb2 100644
--- a/src/libsysprof-analyze/sysprof-document.c
+++ b/src/libsysprof-analyze/sysprof-document.c
@@ -1286,3 +1286,19 @@ _sysprof_document_kernel_symbol (SysprofDocument *self)
 
   return self->symbols->context_switches[SYSPROF_ADDRESS_CONTEXT_KERNEL];
 }
+
+/**
+ * sysprof_document_get_clock_at_start:
+ * @self: a #SysprofDocument
+ *
+ * Gets the clock time when the recording started.
+ *
+ * Returns: the clock time, generally of `CLOCK_MONOTONIC`
+ */
+gint64
+sysprof_document_get_clock_at_start (SysprofDocument *self)
+{
+  g_return_val_if_fail (SYSPROF_IS_DOCUMENT (self), 0);
+
+  return self->header.time;
+}
diff --git a/src/libsysprof-analyze/sysprof-document.h b/src/libsysprof-analyze/sysprof-document.h
index cd0ac1a4..fe87ae4d 100644
--- a/src/libsysprof-analyze/sysprof-document.h
+++ b/src/libsysprof-analyze/sysprof-document.h
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ G_BEGIN_DECLS
 SYSPROF_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
 G_DECLARE_FINAL_TYPE (SysprofDocument, sysprof_document, SYSPROF, DOCUMENT, GObject)
 
+SYSPROF_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
+gint64                  sysprof_document_get_clock_at_start  (SysprofDocument           *self);
 SYSPROF_AVAILABLE_IN_ALL
 SysprofDocumentFile    *sysprof_document_lookup_file         (SysprofDocument           *self,
                                                               const char                *path);