diff --git a/crates/puffin-cache/src/by_timestamp.rs b/crates/puffin-cache/src/by_timestamp.rs
index 0fbec2c87..5ab2368b4 100644
--- a/crates/puffin-cache/src/by_timestamp.rs
+++ b/crates/puffin-cache/src/by_timestamp.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,7 @@
-use std::time::SystemTime;
-
 use serde::{Deserialize, Serialize};
 
 #[derive(Deserialize, Serialize)]
-pub struct CachedByTimestamp<T> {
-    pub timestamp: SystemTime,
-    pub data: T,
+pub struct CachedByTimestamp<Timestamp, Data> {
+    pub timestamp: Timestamp,
+    pub data: Data,
 }
diff --git a/crates/puffin-distribution/src/source/mod.rs b/crates/puffin-distribution/src/source/mod.rs
index 4749bbfb1..5c3f0b05c 100644
--- a/crates/puffin-distribution/src/source/mod.rs
+++ b/crates/puffin-distribution/src/source/mod.rs
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
 use std::str::FromStr;
 use std::sync::Arc;
+use std::time::SystemTime;
 
 use anyhow::Result;
 use fs_err::tokio as fs;
@@ -912,12 +913,12 @@ pub(crate) fn read_http_manifest(
 /// If the cache entry is stale, a new entry will be created.
 pub(crate) fn read_timestamp_manifest(
     cache_entry: &CacheEntry,
-    modified: std::time::SystemTime,
+    modified: SystemTime,
 ) -> Result<Option<Manifest>, SourceDistError> {
     // If the cache entry is up-to-date, return it.
     match std::fs::read(cache_entry.path()) {
         Ok(cached) => {
-            let cached = rmp_serde::from_slice::<CachedByTimestamp<Manifest>>(&cached)?;
+            let cached = rmp_serde::from_slice::<CachedByTimestamp<SystemTime, Manifest>>(&cached)?;
             if cached.timestamp == modified {
                 return Ok(Some(cached.data));
             }
@@ -933,7 +934,7 @@ pub(crate) fn read_timestamp_manifest(
 /// If the cache entry is stale, a new entry will be created.
 pub(crate) async fn refresh_timestamp_manifest(
     cache_entry: &CacheEntry,
-    modified: std::time::SystemTime,
+    modified: SystemTime,
 ) -> Result<Manifest, SourceDistError> {
     // If the cache entry is up-to-date, return it.
     if let Some(manifest) = read_timestamp_manifest(cache_entry, modified)? {
diff --git a/crates/puffin-interpreter/src/interpreter.rs b/crates/puffin-interpreter/src/interpreter.rs
index 258f86eb0..c4d5abc8d 100644
--- a/crates/puffin-interpreter/src/interpreter.rs
+++ b/crates/puffin-interpreter/src/interpreter.rs
@@ -278,12 +278,11 @@ impl InterpreterQueryResult {
             format!("{}.msgpack", digest(&executable_bytes)),
         );
 
-        // `modified()` is infallible on windows and unix (i.e., all platforms we support).
-        let modified = fs_err::metadata(fs_err::canonicalize(executable)?)?.modified()?;
+        let modified = Timestamp::from_path(fs_err::canonicalize(executable)?.as_ref())?;
 
         // Read from the cache.
         if let Ok(data) = fs::read(cache_entry.path()) {
-            match rmp_serde::from_slice::<CachedByTimestamp<Self>>(&data) {
+            match rmp_serde::from_slice::<CachedByTimestamp<Timestamp, Self>>(&data) {
                 Ok(cached) => {
                     if cached.timestamp == modified {
                         debug!("Using cached markers for: {}", executable.display());
@@ -310,10 +309,9 @@ impl InterpreterQueryResult {
         let info = Self::query(executable)?;
 
         // If `executable` is a pyenv shim, a bash script that redirects to the activated
-        // python executable at another path, we're not allowed to cache the interpreter info
+        // python executable at another path, we're not allowed to cache the interpreter info.
         if executable == info.sys_executable {
             fs::create_dir_all(cache_entry.dir())?;
-            // Write to the cache.
             write_atomic_sync(
                 cache_entry.path(),
                 rmp_serde::to_vec(&CachedByTimestamp {
@@ -327,6 +325,52 @@ impl InterpreterQueryResult {
     }
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, Copy, PartialEq, Eq, Hash, Deserialize, Serialize)]
+enum Timestamp {
+    // On Unix, use `ctime` and `ctime_nsec`.
+    Unix(i64, i64),
+    // On Windows, use `last_write_time`.
+    Windows(u64),
+    // On other platforms, use Rust's modified time.
+    Generic(std::time::SystemTime),
+}
+
+impl Timestamp {
+    /// Return the [`Timestamp`] for the given path.
+    ///
+    /// On Unix, this uses `ctime` as a conservative approach. `ctime` should detect all
+    /// modifications, including some that we don't care about, like hardlink modifications.
+    /// On other platforms, it uses `mtime`.
+    fn from_path(path: &Path) -> Result<Self, Error> {
+        #[cfg(unix)]
+        {
+            use std::os::unix::fs::MetadataExt;
+
+            let metadata = path.metadata()?;
+            let ctime = metadata.ctime();
+            let ctime_nsec = metadata.ctime_nsec();
+
+            Ok(Self::Unix(ctime, ctime_nsec))
+        }
+
+        #[cfg(windows)]
+        {
+            use std::os::windows::fs::MetadataExt;
+
+            let metadata = path.metadata()?;
+            let modified = metadata.last_write_time();
+            Ok(Self::Windows(modified))
+        }
+
+        #[cfg(not(any(unix, windows)))]
+        {
+            let metadata = path.metadata()?;
+            let modified = metadata.modified()?;
+            Ok(Self::Generic(modified))
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 #[cfg(test)]
 mod tests {
     use std::str::FromStr;