diff --git a/fftools/ffmpeg.c b/fftools/ffmpeg.c
index e0f2fe138f..3ca93fc8fa 100644
--- a/fftools/ffmpeg.c
+++ b/fftools/ffmpeg.c
@@ -2088,9 +2088,11 @@ static void do_streamcopy(InputStream *ist, OutputStream *ost, const AVPacket *p
     }
 
     if (f->recording_time != INT64_MAX) {
-        start_time = f->ctx->start_time;
-        if (f->start_time != AV_NOPTS_VALUE && copy_ts)
-            start_time += f->start_time;
+        start_time = 0;
+        if (copy_ts) {
+            start_time += f->start_time != AV_NOPTS_VALUE ? f->start_time : 0;
+            start_time += start_at_zero ? 0 : f->ctx->start_time;
+        }
         if (ist->pts >= f->recording_time + start_time) {
             close_output_stream(ost);
             return;