diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index d4992f64..68142981 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -46,6 +46,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/).
 - Return non-zero exit code on container sub-commands #1414
 - Fix excessive line spacing issue when listing nodes. #1241
 - Return non-zero exit code on node sub-commands #1421
+- Fix panic when getting a long container list before building the container. #1391
 
 ## v4.5.8, unreleased
 
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main.go b/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main.go
index 8e91e1f3..59a30c5a 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main.go
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ func CobraRunE(vars *variables) func(cmd *cobra.Command, args []string) (err err
 				for i := 0; i < len(containerInfo); i++ {
 					createTime := time.Unix(int64(containerInfo[i].CreateDate), 0)
 					modTime := time.Unix(int64(containerInfo[i].ModDate), 0)
+					if vars.utc {
+						createTime = createTime.UTC()
+						modTime = modTime.UTC()
+					}
 					sz := util.ByteToString(int64(containerInfo[i].ImgSize))
 					if vars.compressed {
 						sz = util.ByteToString(int64(containerInfo[i].ImgSizeComp))
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main_test.go b/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main_test.go
index b1f44e14..3816cb2e 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main_test.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/main_test.go
@@ -4,68 +4,57 @@ import (
 	"bytes"
 	"io"
 	"os"
+	"os/exec"
+	"path"
 	"strings"
 	"testing"
-	"time"
 
 	"github.com/stretchr/testify/assert"
-	"github.com/warewulf/warewulf/internal/pkg/api/routes/wwapiv1"
-	warewulfconf "github.com/warewulf/warewulf/internal/pkg/config"
-	"github.com/warewulf/warewulf/internal/pkg/node"
+	"github.com/warewulf/warewulf/internal/pkg/testenv"
 	"github.com/warewulf/warewulf/internal/pkg/warewulfd"
 	"github.com/warewulf/warewulf/internal/pkg/wwlog"
 )
 
-func Test_List(t *testing.T) {
+func Test_List_Args(t *testing.T) {
 	tests := []struct {
-		name     string
-		args     []string
-		stdout   string
-		inDb     string
-		mockFunc func()
+		args   []string
+		output string
+		fail   bool
 	}{
-		{
-			name:   "container list test",
-			args:   []string{"-l"},
-			stdout: `test            1      kernel`,
-			inDb: `WW_INTERNAL: 45
-nodeprofiles:
-  default: {}
-nodes:
-  n01:
-    profiles:
-    - default
+		{args: []string{""},
+			output: `  CONTAINER NAME
+  test
 `,
-			mockFunc: func() {
-				containerList = func() (containerInfo []*wwapiv1.ContainerInfo, err error) {
-					containerInfo = append(containerInfo, &wwapiv1.ContainerInfo{
-						Name:          "test",
-						NodeCount:     1,
-						KernelVersion: "kernel",
-						CreateDate:    uint64(time.Unix(0, 0).Unix()),
-						ModDate:       uint64(time.Unix(0, 0).Unix()),
-						Size:          uint64(1),
-					})
-					return
-				}
-			},
+			fail: false,
+		},
+		{args: []string{"-ul"},
+			output: `  CONTAINER NAME  NODES  KERNEL VERSION  CREATION TIME        MODIFICATION TIME    SIZE
+  test            0                      02 Jan 00 03:04 UTC  01 Jan 70 00:00 UTC  0 B
+`,
+			fail: false,
+		},
+		{args: []string{"-c"},
+			output: `  CONTAINER NAME  NODES  SIZE
+  test            0      37 B
+`,
+			fail: false,
 		},
 	}
-
-	conf_yml := `
-WW_INTERNAL: 0
-    `
-
-	conf := warewulfconf.Get()
-	err := conf.Parse([]byte(conf_yml))
+	env := testenv.New(t)
+	env.WriteFile(t, path.Join(testenv.WWChrootdir, "test/rootfs/bin/sh"), `This is a fake shell, no pearls here.`)
+	// need to touch the files, so that the creation date of the container is constant,
+	// modification date of `../chroots/containername` is used as creation date.
+	// modification dates of directories change every time a file or subdir is added
+	// so we have to make it constant *after* its creation.
+	cmd := exec.Command("touch", "-d", "2000-01-02 03:04:05 UTC",
+		env.GetPath(path.Join(testenv.WWChrootdir, "test/rootfs")),
+		env.GetPath(path.Join(testenv.WWChrootdir, "test")))
+	err := cmd.Run()
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	defer env.RemoveAll(t)
 	warewulfd.SetNoDaemon()
 	for _, tt := range tests {
-		_, err = node.Parse([]byte(tt.inDb))
-		assert.NoError(t, err)
-		t.Logf("Running test: %s\n", tt.name)
-		t.Run(tt.name, func(t *testing.T) {
-			tt.mockFunc()
+		t.Run(strings.Join(tt.args, "_"), func(t *testing.T) {
 			baseCmd := GetCommand()
 			baseCmd.SetArgs(tt.args)
 			stdoutR, stdoutW, _ := os.Pipe()
@@ -73,10 +62,11 @@ WW_INTERNAL: 0
 			wwlog.SetLogWriter(os.Stdout)
 			baseCmd.SetOut(os.Stdout)
 			baseCmd.SetErr(os.Stdout)
-			err = baseCmd.Execute()
-			if err != nil {
-				t.Errorf("Received error when running command, err: %v", err)
-				t.FailNow()
+			err := baseCmd.Execute()
+			if tt.fail {
+				assert.Error(t, err)
+			} else {
+				assert.NoError(t, err)
 			}
 			stdoutC := make(chan string)
 			go func() {
@@ -85,13 +75,12 @@ WW_INTERNAL: 0
 				stdoutC <- buf.String()
 			}()
 			stdoutW.Close()
-
 			stdout := <-stdoutC
-			assert.NotEmpty(t, stdout, "os.stdout should not be empty")
-			if !strings.Contains(stdout, tt.stdout) {
-				t.Errorf("Got wrong output, got:\n '%s'\n, but want:\n '%s'\n", stdout, tt.stdout)
-				t.FailNow()
-			}
+			assert.Equal(t, tt.output, stdout)
+			assert.Equal(t,
+				strings.ReplaceAll(strings.TrimSpace(tt.output), " ", ""),
+				strings.ReplaceAll(strings.TrimSpace(stdout), " ", ""))
+
 		})
 	}
 }
diff --git a/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/root.go b/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/root.go
index 76c6bc6b..09b9d82b 100644
--- a/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/root.go
+++ b/internal/app/wwctl/container/list/root.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ type variables struct {
 	kernel     bool
 	chroot     bool
 	compressed bool
+	utc        bool
 }
 
 // GetRootCommand returns the root cobra.Command for the application.
@@ -28,6 +29,6 @@ func GetCommand() *cobra.Command {
 	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&vars.size, "size", "s", false, "show size information")
 	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&vars.chroot, "chroot", "c", false, "show size of chroot")
 	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVar(&vars.compressed, "compressed", false, "show size of the compressed image")
-
+	baseCmd.PersistentFlags().BoolVarP(&vars.utc, "utc", "u", false, "use UTC for time output")
 	return baseCmd
 }
diff --git a/internal/pkg/api/container/container.go b/internal/pkg/api/container/container.go
index 6e819766..325a0c5f 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/api/container/container.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/api/container/container.go
@@ -318,6 +318,7 @@ func ContainerList() (containerInfo []*wwapiv1.ContainerInfo, err error) {
 		_, kernelVersion, _ := kernel.FindKernel(container.RootFsDir(source))
 		var creationTime uint64
 		sourceStat, err := os.Stat(container.SourceDir(source))
+		wwlog.Debug("Checking creation time for: %s,%v", container.SourceDir(source), sourceStat.ModTime())
 		if err != nil {
 			wwlog.Error("%s\n", err)
 		} else {
@@ -332,13 +333,13 @@ func ContainerList() (containerInfo []*wwapiv1.ContainerInfo, err error) {
 		if err != nil {
 			wwlog.Error("%s\n", err)
 		}
-		imgF, err := os.Stat(container.ImageFile(source))
-		if err != nil {
-			wwlog.Error("%s\n", err)
+		imgSize := 0
+		if imgF, err := os.Stat(container.ImageFile(source)); err == nil {
+			imgSize = int(imgF.Size())
 		}
-		imgFC, err := os.Stat(container.ImageFile(source) + ".gz")
-		if err != nil {
-			wwlog.Error("%s\n", err)
+		imgCSize := 0
+		if imgFC, err := os.Stat(container.ImageFile(source) + ".gz"); err == nil {
+			imgCSize = int(imgFC.Size())
 		}
 		containerInfo = append(containerInfo, &wwapiv1.ContainerInfo{
 			Name:          source,
@@ -347,8 +348,8 @@ func ContainerList() (containerInfo []*wwapiv1.ContainerInfo, err error) {
 			CreateDate:    creationTime,
 			ModDate:       modTime,
 			Size:          uint64(size),
-			ImgSize:       uint64(imgF.Size()),
-			ImgSizeComp:   uint64(imgFC.Size()),
+			ImgSize:       uint64(imgSize),
+			ImgSizeComp:   uint64(imgCSize),
 		})
 
 	}
diff --git a/internal/pkg/testenv/testenv.go b/internal/pkg/testenv/testenv.go
index 0b80bad3..fbc70e4b 100644
--- a/internal/pkg/testenv/testenv.go
+++ b/internal/pkg/testenv/testenv.go
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import (
 	"path"
 	"path/filepath"
 	"testing"
+	"time"
 
 	warewulfconf "github.com/warewulf/warewulf/internal/pkg/config"
 
@@ -131,6 +132,10 @@ func (env *TestEnv) WriteFile(t *testing.T, fileName string, content string) {
 	defer f.Close()
 	_, err = f.WriteString(content)
 	assert.NoError(t, err)
+	err = os.Chtimes(env.GetPath(fileName),
+		time.Date(2006, time.February, 1, 3, 4, 5, 0, time.UTC),
+		time.Date(2006, time.February, 1, 3, 4, 5, 0, time.UTC))
+	assert.NoError(t, err)
 }
 
 // ReadFile returns the content of fileName as converted to a