diff --git a/lisp/calendar/timeclock.el b/lisp/calendar/timeclock.el
index a054513441c..e570f9bf2f7 100644
--- a/lisp/calendar/timeclock.el
+++ b/lisp/calendar/timeclock.el
@@ -1080,7 +1080,7 @@ See the documentation for the given function if more info is needed."
     (unless timeclock-last-event-workday
       (setq timeclock-last-event-workday timeclock-workday))
     (setq accum timeclock-discrepancy
-	  elapsed timeclock-elapsed)
+	  elapsed (or timeclock-elapsed elapsed))
     (if timeclock-last-event
 	(if (equal (car timeclock-last-event) "i")
 	    (let ((last-period (timeclock-last-period now)))