diff --git a/.github/workflows/test.yml b/.github/workflows/test.yml
index a096504d97..48c8832c1b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/test.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/test.yml
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ jobs:
       - run: cargo test --no-default-features --features=alloc
       - run: cargo test --no-default-features --features=unstable-locales
       - run: cargo test --no-default-features --features=alloc,unstable-locales
+      - run: cargo test --no-default-features --features=now
 
   no_std:
     strategy:
diff --git a/Cargo.toml b/Cargo.toml
index c6edb2a311..57ca5e2f55 100644
--- a/Cargo.toml
+++ b/Cargo.toml
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ alloc = []
 libc = []
 winapi = ["windows-targets"]
 std = ["alloc"]
-clock = ["std", "winapi", "iana-time-zone", "android-tzdata"]
+clock = ["winapi", "iana-time-zone", "android-tzdata", "now"]
+now = ["std"]
 oldtime = []
 wasmbind = ["wasm-bindgen", "js-sys"]
 unstable-locales = ["pure-rust-locales"]
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c3222ddaa3..a27371555c 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -53,7 +53,8 @@ Default features:
 * `alloc`: Enable features that depend on allocation (primarily string formatting)
 * `std`: Enables functionality that depends on the standard library. This is a superset of `alloc`
   and adds interoperation with standard library types and traits.
-* `clock`: Enables reading the system time (`now`) and local timezone (`Local`).
+* `clock`: Enables reading the local timezone (`Local`). This is a superset of `now`.
+* `now`: Enables reading the system time (`now`)
 * `wasmbind`: Interface with the JS Date API for the `wasm32` target.
 
 Optional features:
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index da8e00d17a..8d7c64e403 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -108,21 +108,28 @@
 //! or in the local time zone
 //! ([`Local::now()`](./offset/struct.Local.html#method.now)).
 //!
+#![cfg_attr(not(feature = "now"), doc = "```ignore")]
+#![cfg_attr(feature = "now", doc = "```rust")]
+//! use chrono::prelude::*;
+//!
+//! let utc: DateTime<Utc> = Utc::now();       // e.g. `2014-11-28T12:45:59.324310806Z`
+//! # let _ = utc;
+//! ```
+//!
 #![cfg_attr(not(feature = "clock"), doc = "```ignore")]
 #![cfg_attr(feature = "clock", doc = "```rust")]
 //! use chrono::prelude::*;
 //!
-//! let utc: DateTime<Utc> = Utc::now();       // e.g. `2014-11-28T12:45:59.324310806Z`
 //! let local: DateTime<Local> = Local::now(); // e.g. `2014-11-28T21:45:59.324310806+09:00`
-//! # let _ = utc; let _ = local;
+//! # let _ = local;
 //! ```
 //!
 //! Alternatively, you can create your own date and time.
 //! This is a bit verbose due to Rust's lack of function and method overloading,
 //! but in turn we get a rich combination of initialization methods.
 //!
-#![cfg_attr(not(feature = "std"), doc = "```ignore")]
-#![cfg_attr(feature = "std", doc = "```rust")]
+#![cfg_attr(not(feature = "now"), doc = "```ignore")]
+#![cfg_attr(feature = "now", doc = "```rust")]
 //! use chrono::prelude::*;
 //! use chrono::offset::LocalResult;
 //!
@@ -146,12 +153,14 @@
 //! assert_eq!(Utc.with_ymd_and_hms(2014, 7, 8, 80, 15, 33), LocalResult::None);
 //! assert_eq!(Utc.with_ymd_and_hms(2014, 7, 38, 21, 15, 33), LocalResult::None);
 //!
+//! # #[cfg(feature = "clock")] {
 //! // other time zone objects can be used to construct a local datetime.
 //! // obviously, `local_dt` is normally different from `dt`, but `fixed_dt` should be identical.
 //! let local_dt = Local.from_local_datetime(&NaiveDate::from_ymd_opt(2014, 7, 8).unwrap().and_hms_milli_opt(9, 10, 11, 12).unwrap()).unwrap();
 //! let fixed_dt = FixedOffset::east_opt(9 * 3600).unwrap().from_local_datetime(&NaiveDate::from_ymd_opt(2014, 7, 8).unwrap().and_hms_milli_opt(18, 10, 11, 12).unwrap()).unwrap();
 //! assert_eq!(dt, fixed_dt);
 //! # let _ = local_dt;
+//! # }
 //! # Some(())
 //! # }
 //! # doctest().unwrap();
diff --git a/src/offset/utc.rs b/src/offset/utc.rs
index 11e9dad931..7c23a282bb 100644
--- a/src/offset/utc.rs
+++ b/src/offset/utc.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 use core::fmt;
 #[cfg(all(
-    feature = "clock",
+    feature = "now",
     not(all(
         target_arch = "wasm32",
         feature = "wasmbind",
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ use rkyv::{Archive, Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 use super::{FixedOffset, LocalResult, Offset, TimeZone};
 use crate::naive::{NaiveDate, NaiveDateTime};
-#[cfg(feature = "clock")]
+#[cfg(feature = "now")]
 #[allow(deprecated)]
 use crate::{Date, DateTime};
 
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ use crate::{Date, DateTime};
 #[cfg_attr(feature = "arbitrary", derive(arbitrary::Arbitrary))]
 pub struct Utc;
 
-#[cfg(feature = "clock")]
+#[cfg(feature = "now")]
 impl Utc {
     /// Returns a `Date` which corresponds to the current date.
     #[deprecated(