diff -u -r ../busybox-1.26.2/coreutils/date.c ./coreutils/date.c
--- ../busybox-1.26.2/coreutils/date.c 2016-12-10 17:46:36.000000000 +0000
+++ ./coreutils/date.c 2017-07-06 22:15:17.528119028 +0000
-@@ -293,9 +293,14 @@
+@@ -293,9 +293,16 @@
maybe_set_utc(opt);
/* if setting time, set it */
+#ifdef __ANDROID__
-+ /* stime(2) is not available on Android and is not allowed anyway. */
-+ bb_error_msg("can't set date: Operation not permitted");
++ if (opt & OPT_SET) {
++ /* stime(2) is not available on Android and is not allowed anyway. */
++ bb_error_msg("can't set date: Operation not permitted");
++ }
+#else
if ((opt & OPT_SET) && stime(&ts.tv_sec) < 0) {
bb_perror_msg("can't set date");