diff --git a/src/scripts/timezone.js b/src/scripts/timezone.js
index 6f19d315..22562bd5 100644
--- a/src/scripts/timezone.js
+++ b/src/scripts/timezone.js
@@ -31,7 +31,12 @@ const TIMEZONES = {
 };
 
 const matcher =
-  /(\d{1,2}:\d{2}\s?(am|pm)?)\s?(((ak|a|c|e|m|p)(s|d)?t)|:(eastern|central|mountain|pacific)-time-zone:)?/i;
+  /(\d{1,2}:\d{2}\s?(am|pm)?)\s?(local(?:\s+time)?|((ak|a|c|e|m|p)(s|d)?t)|:(eastern|central|mountain|pacific)-time-zone:)?/i;
+
+// "local time" means whatever the reader's clock says, not the author's, so
+// there's nothing to convert. Mark those matches so we drop them up front.
+const isLocalTimeMatch = (timezone) =>
+  typeof timezone === "string" && /^local/i.test(timezone);
 
 module.exports = (app) => {
   helpMessage.registerNonInteractive(
@@ -56,7 +61,9 @@ module.exports = (app) => {
     let m = null;
     let ampm = null;
 
-    const matches = [...text.matchAll(RegExp(matcher, "gi"))];
+    const matches = [...text.matchAll(RegExp(matcher, "gi"))].filter(
+      ([, , , timezone]) => !isLocalTimeMatch(timezone),
+    );
 
     // If there aren't any matches, that can be because this was crossposted.
     // We don't want to have the bot respond to those because the authorship of
diff --git a/src/scripts/timezone.test.js b/src/scripts/timezone.test.js
index e1439c98..66c82bb0 100644
--- a/src/scripts/timezone.test.js
+++ b/src/scripts/timezone.test.js
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ describe("Handy Tau-bot timezone conversions", () => {
     timezone(app);
 
     expect(app.message).toHaveBeenCalledWith(
-      /(\d{1,2}:\d{2}\s?(am|pm)?)\s?(((ak|a|c|e|m|p)(s|d)?t)|:(eastern|central|mountain|pacific)-time-zone:)?/i,
+      /(\d{1,2}:\d{2}\s?(am|pm)?)\s?(local(?:\s+time)?|((ak|a|c|e|m|p)(s|d)?t)|:(eastern|central|mountain|pacific)-time-zone:)?/i,
       expect.any(Function),
     );
   });
@@ -242,6 +242,20 @@ describe("Handy Tau-bot timezone conversions", () => {
       expect(slack.postEphemeralMessage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
     });
 
+    it('does not respond when the time is followed by "local time"', async () => {
+      message.event.text = "Is 10:51 local time too early for more pizza talk?";
+      await handler(message);
+
+      expect(slack.postEphemeralMessage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
+    it('does not respond when the time is followed by "local"', async () => {
+      message.event.text = "meeting at 9:00 local";
+      await handler(message);
+
+      expect(slack.postEphemeralMessage).not.toHaveBeenCalled();
+    });
+
     it("correctly converts 24 hour time", async () => {
       message.event.text = "23:42 mst";
       await handler(message);