diff --git a/lib/installer.js b/lib/installer.js
index 47f62784..f1aba02b 100644
--- a/lib/installer.js
+++ b/lib/installer.js
@@ -216,7 +216,7 @@ function getDownloadURL(fileInfo, version, arch) {
     return fileInfo.url;
 }
 exports.getDownloadURL = getDownloadURL;
-function installJulia(versionInfo, version, arch) {
+function installJulia(dest, versionInfo, version, arch) {
     return __awaiter(this, void 0, void 0, function* () {
         // Download Julia
         const fileInfo = getFileInfo(versionInfo, version, arch);
@@ -243,39 +243,38 @@ function installJulia(versionInfo, version, arch) {
         else {
             core.debug('Skipping checksum check for nightly binaries.');
         }
-        const tempInstallDir = fs.mkdtempSync(`julia-${arch}-${version}-`);
         // Install it
         switch (osPlat) {
             case 'linux':
                 // tc.extractTar doesn't support stripping components, so we have to call tar manually
-                yield exec.exec('tar', ['xf', juliaDownloadPath, '--strip-components=1', '-C', tempInstallDir]);
-                return tempInstallDir;
+                yield exec.exec('tar', ['xf', juliaDownloadPath, '--strip-components=1', '-C', dest]);
+                return dest;
             case 'win32':
                 if (fileInfo !== null && fileInfo.extension == 'exe') {
                     if (version.endsWith('nightly') || semver.gtr(version, '1.3', { includePrerelease: true })) {
                         // The installer changed in 1.4: https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/blob/ef0c9108b12f3ae177c51037934351ffa703b0b5/NEWS.md#build-system-changes
-                        yield exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `Start-Process -FilePath ${juliaDownloadPath} -ArgumentList "/SILENT /dir=${path.join(process.cwd(), tempInstallDir)}" -NoNewWindow -Wait`]);
+                        yield exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `Start-Process -FilePath ${juliaDownloadPath} -ArgumentList "/SILENT /dir=${path.join(process.cwd(), dest)}" -NoNewWindow -Wait`]);
                     }
                     else {
-                        yield exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `Start-Process -FilePath ${juliaDownloadPath} -ArgumentList "/S /D=${path.join(process.cwd(), tempInstallDir)}" -NoNewWindow -Wait`]);
+                        yield exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `Start-Process -FilePath ${juliaDownloadPath} -ArgumentList "/S /D=${path.join(process.cwd(), dest)}" -NoNewWindow -Wait`]);
                     }
                 }
                 else {
                     // This is the more common path. Using .tar.gz is much faster
-                    yield exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `tar xf ${juliaDownloadPath} --strip-components=1 -C ${tempInstallDir}`]);
+                    yield exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `tar xf ${juliaDownloadPath} --strip-components=1 -C ${dest}`]);
                 }
-                return tempInstallDir;
+                return dest;
             case 'darwin':
                 if (fileInfo !== null && fileInfo.extension == 'dmg') {
                     core.debug(`Support for .dmg files is deprecated and may be removed in a future release`);
                     yield exec.exec('hdiutil', ['attach', juliaDownloadPath]);
-                    yield exec.exec('/bin/bash', ['-c', `cp -a /Volumes/Julia-*/Julia-*.app/Contents/Resources/julia ${tempInstallDir}`]);
-                    return path.join(tempInstallDir, 'julia');
+                    yield exec.exec('/bin/bash', ['-c', `cp -a /Volumes/Julia-*/Julia-*.app/Contents/Resources/julia ${dest}`]);
+                    return path.join(dest, 'julia');
                 }
                 else {
                     // tc.extractTar doesn't support stripping components, so we have to call tar manually
-                    yield exec.exec('tar', ['xf', juliaDownloadPath, '--strip-components=1', '-C', tempInstallDir]);
-                    return tempInstallDir;
+                    yield exec.exec('tar', ['xf', juliaDownloadPath, '--strip-components=1', '-C', dest]);
+                    return dest;
                 }
             default:
                 throw new Error(`Platform ${osPlat} is not supported`);
diff --git a/lib/setup-julia.js b/lib/setup-julia.js
index eb81dfa3..2b967b3b 100644
--- a/lib/setup-julia.js
+++ b/lib/setup-julia.js
@@ -91,12 +91,18 @@ function run() {
             juliaPath = tc.find('julia', version, arch);
             if (!juliaPath) {
                 core.debug(`could not find Julia ${arch}/${version} in cache`);
-                const juliaInstallationPath = yield installer.installJulia(versionInfo, version, arch);
-                // Add it to cache
-                juliaPath = yield tc.cacheDir(juliaInstallationPath, 'julia', version, arch);
+                // https://github.com/julia-actions/setup-julia/pull/196
+                // we want julia to be installed with unmodified file mtimes
+                // but `tc.cacheDir` uses `cp` internally which destroys mtime
+                // and `tc` provides no API to get the tool directory alone
+                // so hack it by installing a empty directory then use the path it returns
+                // and extract the archives directly to that location
+                const emptyDir = fs.mkdtempSync('empty');
+                juliaPath = yield tc.cacheDir(emptyDir, 'julia', version, arch);
+                yield installer.installJulia(juliaPath, versionInfo, version, arch);
                 core.debug(`added Julia to cache: ${juliaPath}`);
-                // Remove temporary dir
-                fs.rmSync(juliaInstallationPath, { recursive: true });
+                // Remove empty dir
+                fs.rmdirSync(emptyDir);
             }
             else {
                 core.debug(`using cached version of Julia: ${juliaPath}`);
diff --git a/src/installer.ts b/src/installer.ts
index 83756d51..25aede59 100644
--- a/src/installer.ts
+++ b/src/installer.ts
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ export function getDownloadURL(fileInfo, version: string, arch: string): string
     return fileInfo.url
 }
 
-export async function installJulia(versionInfo, version: string, arch: string): Promise<string> {
+export async function installJulia(dest: string, versionInfo, version: string, arch: string): Promise<string> {
     // Download Julia
     const fileInfo = getFileInfo(versionInfo, version, arch)
     const downloadURL = getDownloadURL(fileInfo, version, arch)
@@ -226,37 +226,35 @@ export async function installJulia(versionInfo, version: string, arch: string):
         core.debug('Skipping checksum check for nightly binaries.')
     }
 
-    const tempInstallDir = fs.mkdtempSync(`julia-${arch}-${version}-`)
-
     // Install it
     switch (osPlat) {
         case 'linux':
             // tc.extractTar doesn't support stripping components, so we have to call tar manually
-            await exec.exec('tar', ['xf', juliaDownloadPath, '--strip-components=1', '-C', tempInstallDir])
-            return tempInstallDir
+            await exec.exec('tar', ['xf', juliaDownloadPath, '--strip-components=1', '-C', dest])
+            return dest
         case 'win32':
             if (fileInfo !== null && fileInfo.extension == 'exe') {
                 if (version.endsWith('nightly') || semver.gtr(version, '1.3', {includePrerelease: true})) {
                     // The installer changed in 1.4: https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/blob/ef0c9108b12f3ae177c51037934351ffa703b0b5/NEWS.md#build-system-changes
-                    await exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `Start-Process -FilePath ${juliaDownloadPath} -ArgumentList "/SILENT /dir=${path.join(process.cwd(), tempInstallDir)}" -NoNewWindow -Wait`])
+                    await exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `Start-Process -FilePath ${juliaDownloadPath} -ArgumentList "/SILENT /dir=${path.join(process.cwd(), dest)}" -NoNewWindow -Wait`])
                 } else {
-                    await exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `Start-Process -FilePath ${juliaDownloadPath} -ArgumentList "/S /D=${path.join(process.cwd(), tempInstallDir)}" -NoNewWindow -Wait`])
+                    await exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `Start-Process -FilePath ${juliaDownloadPath} -ArgumentList "/S /D=${path.join(process.cwd(), dest)}" -NoNewWindow -Wait`])
                 }
             } else {
                 // This is the more common path. Using .tar.gz is much faster
-                await exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `tar xf ${juliaDownloadPath} --strip-components=1 -C ${tempInstallDir}`])
+                await exec.exec('powershell', ['-Command', `tar xf ${juliaDownloadPath} --strip-components=1 -C ${dest}`])
             }
-            return tempInstallDir
+            return dest
         case 'darwin':
             if (fileInfo !== null && fileInfo.extension == 'dmg') {
                 core.debug(`Support for .dmg files is deprecated and may be removed in a future release`)
                 await exec.exec('hdiutil', ['attach', juliaDownloadPath])
-                await exec.exec('/bin/bash', ['-c', `cp -a /Volumes/Julia-*/Julia-*.app/Contents/Resources/julia ${tempInstallDir}`])
-                return path.join(tempInstallDir, 'julia')
+                await exec.exec('/bin/bash', ['-c', `cp -a /Volumes/Julia-*/Julia-*.app/Contents/Resources/julia ${dest}`])
+                return path.join(dest, 'julia')
             } else {
                 // tc.extractTar doesn't support stripping components, so we have to call tar manually
-                await exec.exec('tar', ['xf', juliaDownloadPath, '--strip-components=1', '-C', tempInstallDir])
-                return tempInstallDir
+                await exec.exec('tar', ['xf', juliaDownloadPath, '--strip-components=1', '-C', dest])
+                return dest
             }
         default:
             throw new Error(`Platform ${osPlat} is not supported`)
diff --git a/src/setup-julia.ts b/src/setup-julia.ts
index 9982df38..1f309232 100644
--- a/src/setup-julia.ts
+++ b/src/setup-julia.ts
@@ -69,14 +69,21 @@ async function run() {
 
         if (!juliaPath) {
             core.debug(`could not find Julia ${arch}/${version} in cache`)
-            const juliaInstallationPath = await installer.installJulia(versionInfo, version, arch)
 
-            // Add it to cache
-            juliaPath = await tc.cacheDir(juliaInstallationPath, 'julia', version, arch)
+            // https://github.com/julia-actions/setup-julia/pull/196
+            // we want julia to be installed with unmodified file mtimes
+            // but `tc.cacheDir` uses `cp` internally which destroys mtime
+            // and `tc` provides no API to get the tool directory alone
+            // so hack it by installing a empty directory then use the path it returns
+            // and extract the archives directly to that location
+            const emptyDir = fs.mkdtempSync('empty')
+            juliaPath = await tc.cacheDir(emptyDir, 'julia', version, arch)
+            await installer.installJulia(juliaPath, versionInfo, version, arch)
+
             core.debug(`added Julia to cache: ${juliaPath}`)
 
-            // Remove temporary dir
-            fs.rmSync(juliaInstallationPath, {recursive: true})
+            // Remove empty dir
+            fs.rmdirSync(emptyDir)
         } else {
             core.debug(`using cached version of Julia: ${juliaPath}`)
         }