diff --git a/fs/ext4/ext4.h b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
index 750063f7a50c..cc7ca4e87144 100644
--- a/fs/ext4/ext4.h
+++ b/fs/ext4/ext4.h
@@ -26,6 +26,7 @@
 #include <linux/seqlock.h>
 #include <linux/mutex.h>
 #include <linux/timer.h>
+#include <linux/version.h>
 #include <linux/wait.h>
 #include <linux/blockgroup_lock.h>
 #include <linux/percpu_counter.h>
@@ -727,19 +728,55 @@ struct move_extent {
 	<= (EXT4_GOOD_OLD_INODE_SIZE +			\
 	    (einode)->i_extra_isize))			\
 
+/*
+ * We use an encoding that preserves the times for extra epoch "00":
+ *
+ * extra  msb of                         adjust for signed
+ * epoch  32-bit                         32-bit tv_sec to
+ * bits   time    decoded 64-bit tv_sec  64-bit tv_sec      valid time range
+ * 0 0    1    -0x80000000..-0x00000001  0x000000000 1901-12-13..1969-12-31
+ * 0 0    0    0x000000000..0x07fffffff  0x000000000 1970-01-01..2038-01-19
+ * 0 1    1    0x080000000..0x0ffffffff  0x100000000 2038-01-19..2106-02-07
+ * 0 1    0    0x100000000..0x17fffffff  0x100000000 2106-02-07..2174-02-25
+ * 1 0    1    0x180000000..0x1ffffffff  0x200000000 2174-02-25..2242-03-16
+ * 1 0    0    0x200000000..0x27fffffff  0x200000000 2242-03-16..2310-04-04
+ * 1 1    1    0x280000000..0x2ffffffff  0x300000000 2310-04-04..2378-04-22
+ * 1 1    0    0x300000000..0x37fffffff  0x300000000 2378-04-22..2446-05-10
+ *
+ * Note that previous versions of the kernel on 64-bit systems would
+ * incorrectly use extra epoch bits 1,1 for dates between 1901 and
+ * 1970.  e2fsck will correct this, assuming that it is run on the
+ * affected filesystem before 2242.
+ */
+
 static inline __le32 ext4_encode_extra_time(struct timespec *time)
 {
-       return cpu_to_le32((sizeof(time->tv_sec) > 4 ?
-			   (time->tv_sec >> 32) & EXT4_EPOCH_MASK : 0) |
-                          ((time->tv_nsec << EXT4_EPOCH_BITS) & EXT4_NSEC_MASK));
+	u32 extra = sizeof(time->tv_sec) > 4 ?
+		((time->tv_sec - (s32)time->tv_sec) >> 32) & EXT4_EPOCH_MASK : 0;
+	return cpu_to_le32(extra | (time->tv_nsec << EXT4_EPOCH_BITS));
 }
 
 static inline void ext4_decode_extra_time(struct timespec *time, __le32 extra)
 {
-       if (sizeof(time->tv_sec) > 4)
-	       time->tv_sec |= (__u64)(le32_to_cpu(extra) & EXT4_EPOCH_MASK)
-			       << 32;
-       time->tv_nsec = (le32_to_cpu(extra) & EXT4_NSEC_MASK) >> EXT4_EPOCH_BITS;
+	if (unlikely(sizeof(time->tv_sec) > 4 &&
+			(extra & cpu_to_le32(EXT4_EPOCH_MASK)))) {
+#if LINUX_VERSION_CODE < KERNEL_VERSION(4,20,0)
+		/* Handle legacy encoding of pre-1970 dates with epoch
+		 * bits 1,1.  We assume that by kernel version 4.20,
+		 * everyone will have run fsck over the affected
+		 * filesystems to correct the problem.  (This
+		 * backwards compatibility may be removed before this
+		 * time, at the discretion of the ext4 developers.)
+		 */
+		u64 extra_bits = le32_to_cpu(extra) & EXT4_EPOCH_MASK;
+		if (extra_bits == 3 && ((time->tv_sec) & 0x80000000) != 0)
+			extra_bits = 0;
+		time->tv_sec += extra_bits << 32;
+#else
+		time->tv_sec += (u64)(le32_to_cpu(extra) & EXT4_EPOCH_MASK) << 32;
+#endif
+	}
+	time->tv_nsec = (le32_to_cpu(extra) & EXT4_NSEC_MASK) >> EXT4_EPOCH_BITS;
 }
 
 #define EXT4_INODE_SET_XTIME(xtime, inode, raw_inode)			       \