diff --git a/scrapy/core/engine.py b/scrapy/core/engine.py
index 4bfc82616..a64a6b3c4 100644
--- a/scrapy/core/engine.py
+++ b/scrapy/core/engine.py
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ This is the Scrapy engine which controls the Scheduler, Downloader and Spiders.
 For more information see docs/topics/architecture.rst
 
 """
-from datetime import datetime
+from time import time
 
 from twisted.internet import reactor, task, defer
 from twisted.python.failure import Failure
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ class ExecutionEngine(object):
         """Start the execution engine"""
         if self.running:
             return
-        self.start_time = datetime.utcnow()
+        self.start_time = time()
         send_catch_log(signal=signals.engine_started, sender=self.__class__)
         self._mainloop_task.start(5.0, now=True)
         reactor.callWhenRunning(self._mainloop)
diff --git a/scrapy/utils/engine.py b/scrapy/utils/engine.py
index acbe49ae5..b1250c71e 100644
--- a/scrapy/utils/engine.py
+++ b/scrapy/utils/engine.py
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 """Some debugging functions for working with the Scrapy engine"""
 
+from time import time
+
 from scrapy.core.engine import scrapyengine
 
 def get_engine_status(engine=None):
@@ -8,7 +10,7 @@ def get_engine_status(engine=None):
         engine = scrapyengine
 
     global_tests = [
-        "datetime.utcnow()-engine.start_time",
+        "time()-engine.start_time",
         "engine.is_idle()",
         "engine.scheduler.is_idle()",
         "len(engine.scheduler.pending_requests)",