diff --git a/linux/build/scripts/build-inner.sh b/linux/build/scripts/build-inner.sh
index 1462193..f129449 100755
--- a/linux/build/scripts/build-inner.sh
+++ b/linux/build/scripts/build-inner.sh
@@ -313,38 +313,36 @@ post_process_for_reproducibility() {
     # marker plus the filename anchors the location.
     echo "post-process: byte-patching Rock Ridge TF dates on /live/filesystem.squashfs"
     sudo --non-interactive python3 - "${iso_file}" <<'PYEOF'
-import sys, struct
+import sys
 path = sys.argv[1]
 TF_HDR = b'TF\x1a\x01\x0e'           # "TF" length=26 ver=1 flags=0x0e
 NAME_TAG = b'filesystem.squashfs'    # appears in the NM Rock Ridge entry
+patched = 0
 with open(path, 'r+b') as f:
     data = f.read()
-# Find TF entries near a "filesystem.squashfs" NM tag. We don't trust
-# any single anchor; require both within a 96-byte window so we don't
-# accidentally rewrite some other TF entry that happens to be near
-# the NM tag of a different file.
-patched = 0
-i = 0
-while True:
-    j = data.find(TF_HDR, i)
-    if j < 0:
-        break
-    # Look for the filename within ~96 bytes after this TF header.
-    window = data[j:j + 96]
-    if NAME_TAG in window:
-        # Date 1 starts at j + 5; copy its 7 bytes onto Date 2 (j+12)
-        # and Date 3 (j+19).
-        creation = data[j + 5:j + 12]
-        if creation[3:7] != b'\x00\x00\x00\x00':  # sanity: not all zeroes
-            # only patch if MOD or ACCESS actually differs from CREATION
-            if data[j + 12:j + 19] != creation or data[j + 19:j + 26] != creation:
-                f.seek(j + 12)
-                f.write(creation)
-                f.seek(j + 19)
-                f.write(creation)
-                patched += 1
-                print(f'  patched TF at offset {j} (creation={creation.hex()})')
-    i = j + 1
+    i = 0
+    while True:
+        j = data.find(TF_HDR, i)
+        if j < 0:
+            break
+        # Look for the filename within ~96 bytes after this TF header
+        # — anchors both ends so we don't rewrite some other file's
+        # TF entry that happens to be near the NM tag.
+        window = data[j:j + 96]
+        if NAME_TAG in window:
+            # Date 1 (CREATION) starts at j+5, 7 bytes long.
+            # Copy onto Date 2 (MODIFICATION, j+12) and Date 3 (ACCESS, j+19).
+            creation = data[j + 5:j + 12]
+            if creation[0] != 0:  # sanity: year byte must be non-zero
+                if (data[j + 12:j + 19] != creation
+                    or data[j + 19:j + 26] != creation):
+                    f.seek(j + 12)
+                    f.write(creation)
+                    f.seek(j + 19)
+                    f.write(creation)
+                    patched += 1
+                    print(f'  patched TF at offset {j} (creation={creation.hex()})')
+        i = j + 1
 print(f'post-process: byte-patcher fixed {patched} TF entr{"y" if patched == 1 else "ies"}')
 PYEOF