diff --git a/.update/pre-patches b/.update/pre-patches
index 1461218c14..ea0ee3faa9 100755
--- a/.update/pre-patches
+++ b/.update/pre-patches
@@ -174,5 +174,12 @@ then
 	G_EXEC sed -i 's/rk3328-nanopi-neo3-rev02.dtb/rk3328-nanopi-r2-rev00.dtb/' /boot/armbianEnv.txt
 fi
 
+# v8.4/v8.5: https://github.com/MichaIng/DietPi/issues/5467
+if (( $G_DIETPI_VERSION_CORE < 8 || ( $G_DIETPI_VERSION_CORE == 8 && $G_DIETPI_VERSION_SUB < 5 ) )) && (( $G_DISTRO > 5 )) && dpkg-query -s systemd-timesyncd &> /dev/null && [[ $(apt-mark showauto systemd-timesyncd) ]]
+then
+	G_DIETPI-NOTIFY 2 'Marking systemd-timesyncd as manually installed to prevent its autoremoval'
+	G_EXEC apt-mark manual systemd-timesyncd
+fi
+
 exit 0
 }