diff --git a/clients/cli/connections.c b/clients/cli/connections.c
index ae1250aab2..3456b92e20 100644
--- a/clients/cli/connections.c
+++ b/clients/cli/connections.c
@@ -6925,7 +6925,7 @@ is_connection_dirty (NMConnection *connection, NMRemoteConnection *remote)
 {
 	return !nm_connection_compare (connection,
 	                               remote ? NM_CONNECTION (remote) : NULL,
-	                               NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_EXACT);
+	                               NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_TIMESTAMP);
 }
 
 static gboolean
diff --git a/libnm-core/nm-setting-connection.c b/libnm-core/nm-setting-connection.c
index 323c129615..9587ebcb1b 100644
--- a/libnm-core/nm-setting-connection.c
+++ b/libnm-core/nm-setting-connection.c
@@ -1014,6 +1014,11 @@ compare_property (NMSetting *setting,
 	    && g_strcmp0 (prop_spec->name, NM_SETTING_CONNECTION_ID) == 0)
 		return TRUE;
 
+	/* Handle ignore timestamp */
+	if (   (flags & NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_TIMESTAMP)
+	    && g_strcmp0 (prop_spec->name, NM_SETTING_CONNECTION_TIMESTAMP) == 0)
+		return TRUE;
+
 	/* Otherwise chain up to parent to handle generic compare */
 	return NM_SETTING_CLASS (nm_setting_connection_parent_class)->compare_property (setting, other, prop_spec, flags);
 }
diff --git a/libnm-core/nm-setting.c b/libnm-core/nm-setting.c
index 40298d3c73..45f72d0323 100644
--- a/libnm-core/nm-setting.c
+++ b/libnm-core/nm-setting.c
@@ -1083,6 +1083,11 @@ should_compare_prop (NMSetting *setting,
 	    && !strcmp (prop_name, NM_SETTING_CONNECTION_ID))
 		return FALSE;
 
+	if (   (comp_flags & NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_TIMESTAMP)
+	    && NM_IS_SETTING_CONNECTION (setting)
+	    && !strcmp (prop_name, NM_SETTING_CONNECTION_TIMESTAMP))
+		return FALSE;
+
 	return TRUE;
 }
 
diff --git a/libnm-core/nm-setting.h b/libnm-core/nm-setting.h
index 30a2c577d9..887aef4a6b 100644
--- a/libnm-core/nm-setting.h
+++ b/libnm-core/nm-setting.h
@@ -91,25 +91,26 @@ typedef enum { /*< flags >*/
  * @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_ID: ignore the connection's ID
  * @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_SECRETS: ignore all secrets
  * @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_AGENT_OWNED_SECRETS: ignore secrets for which
- * the secret's flags indicate the secret is owned by a user secret agent
- * (ie, the secret's flag includes @NM_SETTING_SECRET_FLAG_AGENT_OWNED)
+ *   the secret's flags indicate the secret is owned by a user secret agent
+ *   (ie, the secret's flag includes @NM_SETTING_SECRET_FLAG_AGENT_OWNED)
  * @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_NOT_SAVED_SECRETS: ignore secrets for which
- * the secret's flags indicate the secret should not be saved to persistent
- * storage (ie, the secret's flag includes @NM_SETTING_SECRET_FLAG_NOT_SAVED)
+ *   the secret's flags indicate the secret should not be saved to persistent
+ *   storage (ie, the secret's flag includes @NM_SETTING_SECRET_FLAG_NOT_SAVED)
  * @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_WITH_DEFAULT: if this flag is set,
- * nm_setting_diff() and nm_connection_diff() will also include properties that
- * are set to their default value. See also @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_NO_DEFAULT.
+ *   nm_setting_diff() and nm_connection_diff() will also include properties that
+ *   are set to their default value. See also @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_NO_DEFAULT.
  * @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_NO_DEFAULT: if this flag is set,
- * nm_setting_diff() and nm_connection_diff() will not include properties that
- * are set to their default value. This is the opposite of
- * @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_WITH_DEFAULT. If both flags are set together,
- * @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_WITH_DEFAULT wins. If both flags are unset,
- * this means to exclude default properties if there is a setting to compare,
- * but include all properties, if the setting 'b' is missing. This is the legacy
- * behaviour of libnm-util, where nm_setting_diff() behaved differently depending
- * on whether the setting 'b' was available. If @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_WITH_DEFAULT
- * is set, nm_setting_diff() will also set the flags @NM_SETTING_DIFF_RESULT_IN_A_DEFAULT
- * and @NM_SETTING_DIFF_RESULT_IN_B_DEFAULT, if the values are default values.
+ *   nm_setting_diff() and nm_connection_diff() will not include properties that
+ *   are set to their default value. This is the opposite of
+ *   @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_WITH_DEFAULT. If both flags are set together,
+ *   @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_WITH_DEFAULT wins. If both flags are unset,
+ *   this means to exclude default properties if there is a setting to compare,
+ *   but include all properties, if the setting 'b' is missing. This is the legacy
+ *   behaviour of libnm-util, where nm_setting_diff() behaved differently depending
+ *   on whether the setting 'b' was available. If @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_WITH_DEFAULT
+ *   is set, nm_setting_diff() will also set the flags @NM_SETTING_DIFF_RESULT_IN_A_DEFAULT
+ *   and @NM_SETTING_DIFF_RESULT_IN_B_DEFAULT, if the values are default values.
+ * @NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_TIMESTAMP: ignore the connection's timestamp
  *
  * These flags modify the comparison behavior when comparing two settings or
  * two connections.
@@ -124,6 +125,7 @@ typedef enum {
 	NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_NOT_SAVED_SECRETS = 0x00000010,
 	NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_WITH_DEFAULT = 0x00000020,
 	NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_DIFF_RESULT_NO_DEFAULT = 0x00000040,
+	NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_TIMESTAMP = 0x00000080,
 
 	/* 0x80000000 is used for a private flag */
 } NMSettingCompareFlags;
diff --git a/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c b/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c
index de3b9f17e3..47055d9bc6 100644
--- a/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c
+++ b/libnm-core/tests/test-general.c
@@ -2248,6 +2248,31 @@ test_setting_compare_id (void)
 	g_assert (success);
 }
 
+static void
+test_setting_compare_timestamp (void)
+{
+	NMSetting *old, *new;
+	gboolean success;
+
+	old = nm_setting_connection_new ();
+	g_object_set (old,
+	              NM_SETTING_CONNECTION_ID, "ignore timestamp connection",
+	              NM_SETTING_CONNECTION_UUID, "b047a198-0e0a-4f0e-a653-eea09bb35e40",
+	              NM_SETTING_CONNECTION_AUTOCONNECT, FALSE,
+	              NM_SETTING_CONNECTION_TIMESTAMP, 1234567890,
+	              NULL);
+
+	new = nm_setting_duplicate (old);
+	g_object_set (new, NM_SETTING_CONNECTION_TIMESTAMP, 1416316539, NULL);
+
+	/* First make sure they are different */
+	success = nm_setting_compare (old, new, NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_EXACT);
+	g_assert (success == FALSE);
+
+	success = nm_setting_compare (old, new, NM_SETTING_COMPARE_FLAG_IGNORE_TIMESTAMP);
+	g_assert (success);
+}
+
 typedef struct {
 	NMSettingSecretFlags secret_flags;
 	NMSettingCompareFlags comp_flags;
@@ -3739,6 +3764,7 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 	g_test_add_func ("/core/general/test_setting_to_dbus_transform", test_setting_to_dbus_transform);
 	g_test_add_func ("/core/general/test_setting_to_dbus_enum", test_setting_to_dbus_enum);
 	g_test_add_func ("/core/general/test_setting_compare_id", test_setting_compare_id);
+	g_test_add_func ("/core/general/test_setting_compare_timestamp", test_setting_compare_timestamp);
 #define ADD_FUNC(func, secret_flags, comp_flags, remove_secret) \
 	g_test_add_data_func_full ("/core/general/" G_STRINGIFY (func), \
 	                           test_data_compare_secrets_new (secret_flags, comp_flags, remove_secret), \