diff --git a/RECIPE-API-CHANGELOG.md b/RECIPE-API-CHANGELOG.md
index 6653ab43..e6861523 100644
--- a/RECIPE-API-CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/RECIPE-API-CHANGELOG.md
@@ -583,3 +583,9 @@ Cross compiling kernel modules for distro kernels is not supported in debian.
 To simplify downstream kernel module builds, we automatically turn of cross
 compilation for a user-provided module when building it for a distro kernel.
 
+
+### Build against debian snapshot mirror
+
+To build against a distributions snapshot mirror, set `ISAR_USE_APT_SNAPSHOT="1"`.
+The mirror to use is specified in `DISTRO_APT_SNAPSHOT_PREMIRROR` and usually
+pre-defined in the distro config.
diff --git a/doc/user_manual.md b/doc/user_manual.md
index 419d5339..70741968 100644
--- a/doc/user_manual.md
+++ b/doc/user_manual.md
@@ -431,6 +431,9 @@ Some other variables include:
  - `HOST_DISTRO_APT_PREFERENCES` - List of apt preference files for SDK root filesystem. This variable is optional.
  - `HOST_DISTRO_BOOTSTRAP_KEYS` - Analogously to DISTRO_BOOTSTRAP_KEYS: List of gpg key URIs used to verify apt bootstrap repo for the host.
  - `DISTRO_APT_PREMIRRORS` - The preferred mirror (append it to the default URI in the format `ftp.debian.org my.preferred.mirror`. This variable is optional. PREMIRRORS will be used only for the build. The final images will have the sources list as mentioned in DISTRO_APT_SOURCES.
+ - `ISAR_USE_APT_SNAPSHOT` - Use a frozen apt snapshot instead of the live mirror. Optional.
+ - `DISTRO_APT_SNAPSHOT_PREMIRROR` - Similar to `DISTRO_APT_PREMIRRORS` but for a snapshot, pre-defined for supported distros.
+ - `ISAR_APT_SNAPSHOT_TIMESTAMP` - Timestamp of the apt snapshot. Automatically derived from `SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH` if not overwritten.
  - `THIRD_PARTY_APT_KEYS` - List of gpg key URIs used to verify apt repos for apt installation after bootstrapping.
  - `FILESEXTRAPATHS` - The default directories BitBake uses when it processes recipes are initially defined by the FILESPATH variable. You can extend FILESPATH variable by using FILESEXTRAPATHS.
  - `FILESOVERRIDES` - A subset of OVERRIDES used by the build system for creating FILESPATH. The FILESOVERRIDES variable uses overrides to automatically extend the FILESPATH variable.
diff --git a/meta-isar/conf/distro/ubuntu-common.inc b/meta-isar/conf/distro/ubuntu-common.inc
index 9d8a843b..54bb747a 100644
--- a/meta-isar/conf/distro/ubuntu-common.inc
+++ b/meta-isar/conf/distro/ubuntu-common.inc
@@ -32,3 +32,6 @@ IMAGE_PREINSTALL += "init"
 IMAGE_PREINSTALL += "initramfs-tools"
 
 IMAGER_INSTALL:wic += "python3-distutils"
+
+# snapshot mirror for reproducible builds
+DISTRO_APT_SNAPSHOT_PREMIRROR ??= "(http|https)://archive.ubuntu.com/(.*) https://snapshot.ubuntu.com/\2/${APT_SNAPSHOT_DATE}/\n"
diff --git a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
index 1da3ecac..4cfa8b10 100644
--- a/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
+++ b/meta/conf/bitbake.conf
@@ -145,6 +145,9 @@ export SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH ?= "${@get_source_date_epoch_value(d)}"
 # A SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH of '0' might be misinterpreted as no SDE
 # ISAR: set value to date of latest release
 SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH_FALLBACK ??= "1709565251"
+# Debian snapshots
+ISAR_USE_APT_SNAPSHOT ??= "0"
+ISAR_APT_SNAPSHOT_TIMESTAMP ??= "${SOURCE_DATE_EPOCH}"
 
 # Default parallelism and resource usage for xz
 XZ_MEMLIMIT ?= "50%"
diff --git a/meta/conf/distro/debian-common.conf b/meta/conf/distro/debian-common.conf
index 1e1dfc83..db538510 100644
--- a/meta/conf/distro/debian-common.conf
+++ b/meta/conf/distro/debian-common.conf
@@ -39,3 +39,6 @@ SYSTEMD_BOOTLOADER_INSTALL:sid = "systemd-boot-efi:${DISTRO_ARCH}"
 
 COMPAT_DISTRO_ARCH:amd64 = "i386"
 COMPAT_DISTRO_ARCH:arm64 = "armhf"
+
+# snapshot mirror for reproducible builds
+DISTRO_APT_SNAPSHOT_PREMIRROR ??= "deb.debian.org/(.*) snapshot-cloudflare.debian.org/archive/\1/${APT_SNAPSHOT_DATE}/\n"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/meta/recipes-core/isar-bootstrap/isar-bootstrap.inc b/meta/recipes-core/isar-bootstrap/isar-bootstrap.inc
index 17f19fd8..733a23df 100644
--- a/meta/recipes-core/isar-bootstrap/isar-bootstrap.inc
+++ b/meta/recipes-core/isar-bootstrap/isar-bootstrap.inc
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@ DISTRO_VARS_PREFIX ?= "${@'HOST_' if bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('BOOTSTRAP_FOR
 BOOTSTRAP_DISTRO = "${@d.getVar('HOST_DISTRO' if bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('BOOTSTRAP_FOR_HOST')) else 'DISTRO')}"
 BOOTSTRAP_BASE_DISTRO = "${@d.getVar('HOST_BASE_DISTRO' if bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('BOOTSTRAP_FOR_HOST')) else 'BASE_DISTRO')}"
 FILESEXTRAPATHS:append = ":${BBPATH}"
+# reproducible builds, only enabled if ISAR_USE_APT_SNAPSHOT
+ISAR_APT_SNAPSHOT_MIRROR ??= ""
+APT_SNAPSHOT_DATE = "${@ get_apt_snapshot_date(d)}"
 
 inherit deb-dl-dir
 
@@ -107,11 +110,21 @@ def parse_aptsources_list_line(source_list_line):
 
     return [type, options, source, suite, components]
 
+def get_apt_snapshot_date(d):
+    import time
+    source_date_epoch = d.getVar('ISAR_APT_SNAPSHOT_TIMESTAMP')
+    return time.strftime('%Y%m%dT%H%M%SZ', time.gmtime(int(source_date_epoch)))
+
 def get_apt_source_mirror(d, aptsources_entry_list):
     import re
 
+    # this is executed during parsing. No error checking possible
+    use_snapshot = bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_APT_SNAPSHOT'))
+    snapshot_mirror = d.getVar('DISTRO_APT_SNAPSHOT_PREMIRROR')
     if bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_CACHED_BASE_REPO')):
         premirrors = "\S* file://${REPO_BASE_DIR}/${BOOTSTRAP_BASE_DISTRO}\n"
+    elif use_snapshot and snapshot_mirror:
+        premirrors = snapshot_mirror
     else:
         premirrors = d.getVar('DISTRO_APT_PREMIRRORS') or ""
     mirror_list = [entry.split()
@@ -126,6 +139,8 @@ def get_apt_source_mirror(d, aptsources_entry_list):
             new_aptsources_entry_list[2] = re.sub(regex, replace,
                                                   aptsources_entry_list[2],
                                                   count = 1)
+            if use_snapshot:
+                new_aptsources_entry_list[1] = "[check-valid-until=no]"
             return new_aptsources_entry_list
 
     return aptsources_entry_list
@@ -240,6 +255,7 @@ do_apt_config_prepare[vardeps] += " \
     APTSRCS \
     ${DISTRO_VARS_PREFIX}DISTRO_APT_SOURCES \
     DEPLOY_ISAR_BOOTSTRAP \
+    ${@'DISTRO_APT_SNAPSHOT_PREMIRROR' if bb.utils.to_boolean(d.getVar('ISAR_USE_APT_SNAPSHOT')) else ''} \
     "
 python do_apt_config_prepare() {
     apt_preferences_out = d.getVar("APTPREFS")
