diff --git a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-dhcp-server.c b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-dhcp-server.c
index cc5e032344..d2cc3194b3 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-dhcp-server.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-dhcp-server.c
@@ -797,7 +797,7 @@ int dhcp_server_handle_message(sd_dhcp_server *server, DHCPMessage *message,
                                          clock_boottime_or_monotonic(),
                                          &time_now);
                         if (r < 0)
-                                time_now = now(clock_boottime_or_monotonic());
+                                return r;
                         lease->expiration = req->lifetime * USEC_PER_SEC + time_now;
 
                         r = server_send_ack(server, req, address);
diff --git a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-dhcp6-client.c b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-dhcp6-client.c
index 85162dc555..e2f5862851 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-dhcp6-client.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-dhcp6-client.c
@@ -975,14 +975,9 @@ static int client_start(sd_dhcp6_client *client, enum DHCP6State state)
         client->retransmit_time = 0;
         client->retransmit_count = 0;
 
-        if (client->state == DHCP6_STATE_STOPPED) {
-                time_now = now(clock_boottime_or_monotonic());
-        } else {
-                r = sd_event_now(client->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(),
-                                 &time_now);
-                if (r < 0)
-                        return r;
-        }
+        r = sd_event_now(client->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &time_now);
+        if (r < 0)
+                return r;
 
         switch (state) {
         case DHCP6_STATE_STOPPED:
diff --git a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-ipv4ll.c b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-ipv4ll.c
index 9e04db96bb..0cb77ccf71 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-ipv4ll.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-ipv4ll.c
@@ -187,8 +187,7 @@ static void ipv4ll_set_next_wakeup(sd_ipv4ll *ll, int sec, int random_sec) {
         if (random_sec)
                 next_timeout += random_u32() % (random_sec * USEC_PER_SEC);
 
-        if (sd_event_now(ll->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &time_now) < 0)
-                time_now = now(clock_boottime_or_monotonic());
+        assert_se(sd_event_now(ll->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &time_now) >= 0);
 
         ll->next_wakeup = time_now + next_timeout;
         ll->next_wakeup_valid = 1;
diff --git a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-pppoe.c b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-pppoe.c
index 1de8a5e8bf..ff064f563f 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd-network/sd-pppoe.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd-network/sd-pppoe.c
@@ -346,9 +346,7 @@ static int pppoe_arm_timeout(sd_pppoe *ppp) {
         assert(ppp);
 
         r = sd_event_now(ppp->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &next_timeout);
-        if (r == -ENODATA)
-                next_timeout = now(clock_boottime_or_monotonic());
-        else if (r < 0)
+        if (r < 0)
                 return r;
 
         next_timeout += 500 * USEC_PER_MSEC;
diff --git a/src/libsystemd/sd-event/sd-event.c b/src/libsystemd/sd-event/sd-event.c
index 76964aa0cc..754fb7614e 100644
--- a/src/libsystemd/sd-event/sd-event.c
+++ b/src/libsystemd/sd-event/sd-event.c
@@ -2572,9 +2572,12 @@ _public_ int sd_event_now(sd_event *e, clockid_t clock, uint64_t *usec) {
         assert_return(usec, -EINVAL);
         assert_return(!event_pid_changed(e), -ECHILD);
 
-        /* If we haven't run yet, just get the actual time */
-        if (!dual_timestamp_is_set(&e->timestamp))
-                return -ENODATA;
+        if (!dual_timestamp_is_set(&e->timestamp)) {
+                /* Implicitly fall back to now() if we never ran
+                 * before and thus have no cached time. */
+                *usec = now(clock);
+                return 1;
+        }
 
         switch (clock) {
 
diff --git a/src/resolve/resolved-dns-transaction.c b/src/resolve/resolved-dns-transaction.c
index 487b2c5162..53779f3372 100644
--- a/src/resolve/resolved-dns-transaction.c
+++ b/src/resolve/resolved-dns-transaction.c
@@ -372,9 +372,7 @@ void dns_transaction_process_reply(DnsTransaction *t, DnsPacket *p) {
                 }
         }
 
-        r = sd_event_now(t->scope->manager->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &ts);
-        if (r < 0)
-                ts = now(clock_boottime_or_monotonic());
+        assert_se(sd_event_now(t->scope->manager->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &ts) >= 0);
 
         switch (t->scope->protocol) {
         case DNS_PROTOCOL_DNS:
@@ -602,9 +600,7 @@ int dns_transaction_go(DnsTransaction *t) {
                 return 0;
         }
 
-        r = sd_event_now(t->scope->manager->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &ts);
-        if (r < 0)
-                ts = now(clock_boottime_or_monotonic());
+        assert_se(sd_event_now(t->scope->manager->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &ts) >= 0);
 
         t->n_attempts++;
         t->start_usec = ts;
diff --git a/src/udev/udevd.c b/src/udev/udevd.c
index d0b8bad48e..28ac44fb8e 100644
--- a/src/udev/udevd.c
+++ b/src/udev/udevd.c
@@ -261,7 +261,6 @@ static int on_event_timeout_warning(sd_event_source *s, uint64_t usec, void *use
 static void worker_attach_event(struct worker *worker, struct event *event) {
         sd_event *e;
         uint64_t usec;
-        int r;
 
         assert(worker);
         assert(worker->manager);
@@ -276,9 +275,7 @@ static void worker_attach_event(struct worker *worker, struct event *event) {
 
         e = worker->manager->event;
 
-        r = sd_event_now(e, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &usec);
-        if (r < 0)
-                return;
+        assert_se(sd_event_now(e, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &usec) >= 0);
 
         (void) sd_event_add_time(e, &event->timeout_warning, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(),
                                  usec + arg_event_timeout_warn_usec, USEC_PER_SEC, on_event_timeout_warning, event);
@@ -749,9 +746,7 @@ static void manager_exit(Manager *manager) {
         event_queue_cleanup(manager, EVENT_QUEUED);
         manager_kill_workers(manager);
 
-        r = sd_event_now(manager->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &usec);
-        if (r < 0)
-                return;
+        assert_se(sd_event_now(manager->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &usec) >= 0);
 
         r = sd_event_add_time(manager->event, NULL, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(),
                               usec + 30 * USEC_PER_SEC, USEC_PER_SEC, on_exit_timeout, manager);
@@ -780,7 +775,6 @@ static void manager_reload(Manager *manager) {
 static void event_queue_start(Manager *manager) {
         struct udev_list_node *loop;
         usec_t usec;
-        int r;
 
         assert(manager);
 
@@ -788,17 +782,15 @@ static void event_queue_start(Manager *manager) {
             manager->exit || manager->stop_exec_queue)
                 return;
 
-        r = sd_event_now(manager->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &usec);
-        if (r >= 0) {
-                /* check for changed config, every 3 seconds at most */
-                if (manager->last_usec == 0 ||
-                    (usec - manager->last_usec) > 3 * USEC_PER_SEC) {
-                        if (udev_rules_check_timestamp(manager->rules) ||
-                            udev_builtin_validate(manager->udev))
-                                manager_reload(manager);
+        assert_se(sd_event_now(manager->event, clock_boottime_or_monotonic(), &usec) >= 0);
+        /* check for changed config, every 3 seconds at most */
+        if (manager->last_usec == 0 ||
+            (usec - manager->last_usec) > 3 * USEC_PER_SEC) {
+                if (udev_rules_check_timestamp(manager->rules) ||
+                    udev_builtin_validate(manager->udev))
+                        manager_reload(manager);
 
-                        manager->last_usec = usec;
-                }
+                manager->last_usec = usec;
         }
 
         udev_builtin_init(manager->udev);