diff --git a/src/corelib/time/qtimezone.cpp b/src/corelib/time/qtimezone.cpp
index 1da2e037c70..421c2d68786 100644
--- a/src/corelib/time/qtimezone.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/time/qtimezone.cpp
@@ -1443,6 +1443,7 @@ QTimeZone QTimeZone::systemTimeZone()
 }
 
 /*!
+    \fn QTimeZone QTimeZone::utc()
     \since 5.5
     Returns a QTimeZone object that describes UTC as a time zone.
 
@@ -1453,11 +1454,20 @@ QTimeZone QTimeZone::systemTimeZone()
 
     \sa systemTimeZone(), Initialization, asBackendZone()
 */
-QTimeZone QTimeZone::utc()
+QTimeZone QTimeZonePrivate::utcQTimeZone()
 {
     return QTimeZone(*new QUtcTimeZonePrivate());
 }
 
+Q_GLOBAL_STATIC(QTimeZone, utcTimeZone, QTimeZonePrivate::utcQTimeZone());
+
+QTimeZone QTimeZone::utc()
+{
+    if (Q_UNLIKELY(utcTimeZone.isDestroyed()))
+        return QTimeZonePrivate::utcQTimeZone(); // create a new, unshared one
+    return *utcTimeZone; // take a shallow copy
+}
+
 /*!
     Returns \c true if a given time zone \a ianaId is available on this system.
 
diff --git a/src/corelib/time/qtimezoneprivate_p.h b/src/corelib/time/qtimezoneprivate_p.h
index d240beb2efa..b2c03e49f0a 100644
--- a/src/corelib/time/qtimezoneprivate_p.h
+++ b/src/corelib/time/qtimezoneprivate_p.h
@@ -161,6 +161,8 @@ public:
         return QByteArrayLiteral("UTC");
     }
 
+    [[nodiscard]] static QTimeZone utcQTimeZone();
+
 protected:
     // Zones CLDR data says match a condition.
     // Use to filter what the backend has available.