diff --git a/cli.c b/cli.c
index ce44400..a606642 100644
--- a/cli.c
+++ b/cli.c
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
+#include <time.h>
 #include <unistd.h>
 
 #include "err.h"
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ main(int argc, char *argv[])
 	int ch, digits, do_hotp;
 	enum otp_hmac hmac;
 
-	counter = 0;
+	counter = (uint64_t)time(NULL);
 	digits = 6;
 	do_hotp = 0;
 	hmac = OTP_HMAC_SHA1;