diff --git a/os/include/os/timed_semaphore.h b/os/include/os/timed_semaphore.h
index 4afd58f15..45f886d8e 100644
--- a/os/include/os/timed_semaphore.h
+++ b/os/include/os/timed_semaphore.h
@@ -34,22 +34,25 @@ namespace Genode {
 	{
 		private:
 
-			Timer::Connection   _timer;   /* timer session */
-			Genode::Alarm::Time _jiffies; /* jiffies counter */
+			enum { JIFFIES_STEP_MS = 10 };
+
+			Timer::Connection   _timer;    /* timer session   */
+			Signal_context      _context;
+			Signal_receiver     _receiver;
+			Genode::Alarm::Time _time;     /* current time    */
 
 			void entry(void);
 
 		public:
 
-			enum { GRANULARITY_MSECS = 10 };
-
-			Timeout_thread()
-			: Thread<4096>("alarm-timer"), _jiffies(0)
+			Timeout_thread() : Thread<4096>("alarm-timer"), _time(0)
 			{
+				_timer.sigh(_receiver.manage(&_context));
+				_timer.trigger_periodic(JIFFIES_STEP_MS*1000);
 				start();
 			}
 
-			Genode::Alarm::Time time(void) { return _jiffies; }
+			Genode::Alarm::Time time(void) { return _time; }
 
 			/*
 			 * Returns the singleton timeout-thread used for all timeouts.
@@ -134,18 +137,21 @@ namespace Genode {
 					Timed_semaphore *_sem;       /* Semaphore we block on */
 					Element         *_element;   /* Queue element timeout belongs to */
 					bool             _triggered; /* Timeout expired */
+					Time             _start;
 
 				public:
 
 					Timeout(Time duration, Timed_semaphore *s, Element *e)
 					: _sem(s), _element(e), _triggered(false)
 					{
-						Time t = duration + Timeout_thread::alarm_timer()->time();
-						Timeout_thread::alarm_timer()->schedule_absolute(this, t);
+						Timeout_thread *tt = Timeout_thread::alarm_timer();
+						_start = tt->time();
+						tt->schedule_absolute(this, _start + duration);
 					}
 
-					void discard(void) { Timeout_thread::alarm_timer()->discard(this); }
+					void discard(void)   { Timeout_thread::alarm_timer()->discard(this); }
 					bool triggered(void) { return _triggered; }
+					Time start()         { return _start;     }
 
 				protected:
 
@@ -177,8 +183,6 @@ namespace Genode {
 			 */
 			Alarm::Time down(Alarm::Time t)
 			{
-				/* Track start time */
-				Alarm::Time starttime = Timeout_thread::alarm_timer()->time();
 				Semaphore::_meta_lock.lock();
 
 				if (--Semaphore::_cnt < 0) {
@@ -190,11 +194,6 @@ namespace Genode {
 						throw Genode::Nonblocking_exception();
 					}
 
-					/* Warn if someone choose a undersized timeout */
-					if (t < Timeout_thread::GRANULARITY_MSECS && t > 0)
-						PWRN("We only support granularity of %d msecs, you choose %ld",
-						     Timeout_thread::GRANULARITY_MSECS, t);
-
 					/*
 					 * Create semaphore queue element representing the thread
 					 * in the wait queue.
@@ -222,12 +221,13 @@ namespace Genode {
 					 */
 					if (to.triggered())
 						throw Genode::Timeout_exception();
+
+					/* return blocking time */
+					return Timeout_thread::alarm_timer()->time() - to.start();
 				} else {
 					Semaphore::_meta_lock.unlock();
 				}
-
-				/* return blocking time */
-				return Timeout_thread::alarm_timer()->time() - starttime;
+				return 0;
 			}
 
 
diff --git a/os/include/timer_session/timer_session.h b/os/include/timer_session/timer_session.h
index 4fa766ba4..1a396d057 100644
--- a/os/include/timer_session/timer_session.h
+++ b/os/include/timer_session/timer_session.h
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ namespace Timer {
 		virtual ~Session() { }
 
 		/**
-		 * Program single timeout (in microseconds)
+		 * Program single timeout (relative from now in microseconds)
 		 */
 		virtual void trigger_once(unsigned us) = 0;
 
diff --git a/os/src/lib/timed_semaphore/timed_semaphore.cc b/os/src/lib/timed_semaphore/timed_semaphore.cc
index 1be7fa3c4..44e343317 100644
--- a/os/src/lib/timed_semaphore/timed_semaphore.cc
+++ b/os/src/lib/timed_semaphore/timed_semaphore.cc
@@ -17,11 +17,13 @@
 void Genode::Timeout_thread::entry()
 {
 	while (true) {
-		_timer.msleep(GRANULARITY_MSECS);
-		_jiffies += GRANULARITY_MSECS;
+		Signal s = _receiver.wait_for_signal();
+
+		/* increase jiffies counter related to received signals */
+		_time +=  JIFFIES_STEP_MS * s.num();
 
 		/* handle timouts of this point in time */
-		Genode::Alarm_scheduler::handle(_jiffies);
+		Genode::Alarm_scheduler::handle(_time);
 	}
 }