diff --git a/nvitop/api/device.py b/nvitop/api/device.py
index def080c..5d3b92a 100644
--- a/nvitop/api/device.py
+++ b/nvitop/api/device.py
@@ -1700,7 +1700,10 @@ class Device:  # pylint: disable=too-many-instance-attributes,too-many-public-me
             samples = libnvml.nvmlQuery(
                 'nvmlDeviceGetProcessUtilization',
                 self.handle,
-                time.time_ns() // 1000,
+                # Only utilization samples that were recorded after this timestamp will be returned.
+                # The CPU timestamp, i.e. absolute Unix epoch timestamp (in microseconds), is used.
+                # Here we use the timestamp 1/4 second ago to ensure the record buffer is not empty.
+                time.time_ns() // 1000 - 250_000,
                 default=(),
             )
             for s in sorted(samples, key=lambda s: s.timeStamp):