diff --git a/src/uu/dd/src/dd.rs b/src/uu/dd/src/dd.rs
index 6727f4bb0..4e1287939 100644
--- a/src/uu/dd/src/dd.rs
+++ b/src/uu/dd/src/dd.rs
@@ -36,9 +36,12 @@ use std::os::unix::{
     io::{AsRawFd, FromRawFd},
 };
 use std::path::Path;
-use std::sync::mpsc;
+use std::sync::{
+    atomic::{AtomicBool, Ordering::Relaxed},
+    mpsc, Arc,
+};
 use std::thread;
-use std::time;
+use std::time::{Duration, Instant};
 
 use clap::{crate_version, Arg, Command};
 use gcd::Gcd;
@@ -75,6 +78,45 @@ struct Settings {
     status: Option<StatusLevel>,
 }
 
+/// A timer which triggers on a given interval
+///
+/// After being constructed with [`Alarm::with_interval`], [`Alarm::is_triggered`]
+/// will return true once per the given [`Duration`].
+///
+/// Can be cloned, but the trigger status is shared across all instances so only
+/// the first caller each interval will yield true.
+///
+/// When all instances are dropped the background thread will exit on the next interval.
+#[derive(Debug, Clone)]
+pub struct Alarm {
+    interval: Duration,
+    trigger: Arc<AtomicBool>,
+}
+
+impl Alarm {
+    pub fn with_interval(interval: Duration) -> Self {
+        let trigger = Arc::new(AtomicBool::default());
+
+        let weak_trigger = Arc::downgrade(&trigger);
+        thread::spawn(move || {
+            while let Some(trigger) = weak_trigger.upgrade() {
+                thread::sleep(interval);
+                trigger.store(true, Relaxed);
+            }
+        });
+
+        Self { interval, trigger }
+    }
+
+    pub fn is_triggered(&self) -> bool {
+        self.trigger.swap(false, Relaxed)
+    }
+
+    pub fn get_interval(&self) -> Duration {
+        self.interval
+    }
+}
+
 /// A number in blocks or bytes
 ///
 /// Some values (seek, skip, iseek, oseek) can have values either in blocks or in bytes.
@@ -760,7 +802,7 @@ fn dd_copy(mut i: Input, mut o: Output) -> std::io::Result<()> {
     // of its report includes the throughput in bytes per second,
     // which requires knowing how long the process has been
     // running.
-    let start = time::Instant::now();
+    let start = Instant::now();
 
     // A good buffer size for reading.
     //
@@ -780,7 +822,6 @@ fn dd_copy(mut i: Input, mut o: Output) -> std::io::Result<()> {
     // information.
     let (prog_tx, rx) = mpsc::channel();
     let output_thread = thread::spawn(gen_prog_updater(rx, i.settings.status));
-    let mut progress_as_secs = 0;
 
     // Optimization: if no blocks are to be written, then don't
     // bother allocating any buffers.
@@ -813,6 +854,12 @@ fn dd_copy(mut i: Input, mut o: Output) -> std::io::Result<()> {
     // This is the max size needed.
     let mut buf = vec![BUF_INIT_BYTE; bsize];
 
+    // Spawn a timer thread to provide a scheduled signal indicating when we
+    // should send an update of our progress to the reporting thread.
+    //
+    // This avoids the need to query the OS monotonic clock for every block.
+    let alarm = Alarm::with_interval(Duration::from_secs(1));
+
     // Index in the input file where we are reading bytes and in
     // the output file where we are writing bytes.
     //
@@ -871,9 +918,8 @@ fn dd_copy(mut i: Input, mut o: Output) -> std::io::Result<()> {
         // error.
         rstat += rstat_update;
         wstat += wstat_update;
-        let prog_update = ProgUpdate::new(rstat, wstat, start.elapsed(), false);
-        if prog_update.duration.as_secs() >= progress_as_secs {
-            progress_as_secs = prog_update.duration.as_secs() + 1;
+        if alarm.is_triggered() {
+            let prog_update = ProgUpdate::new(rstat, wstat, start.elapsed(), false);
             prog_tx.send(prog_update).unwrap_or(());
         }
     }
@@ -885,7 +931,7 @@ fn finalize<T>(
     output: &mut Output,
     rstat: ReadStat,
     wstat: WriteStat,
-    start: time::Instant,
+    start: Instant,
     prog_tx: &mpsc::Sender<ProgUpdate>,
     output_thread: thread::JoinHandle<T>,
 ) -> std::io::Result<()> {