diff --git a/changelogs/fragments/filter_strftime.yml b/changelogs/fragments/filter_strftime.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ddb4c511d8f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelogs/fragments/filter_strftime.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+---
+minor_changes:
+    - filter - Use datetime.strftime instead of time.strftime in strftime (https://github.com/ansible/ansible/issues/86260).
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/core.py b/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/core.py
index 96329d5b5b2..dc514dee2cc 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/core.py
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/core.py
@@ -130,18 +130,21 @@ def to_datetime(string, format="%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"):
     return datetime.datetime.strptime(string, format)
 
 
-def strftime(string_format, second=None, utc=False):
-    """ return a date string using string. See https://docs.python.org/3/library/time.html#time.strftime for format """
-    if utc:
-        timefn = time.gmtime
+def strftime(string_format: str, second: float | None = None, utc: bool = False) -> str:
+    """ return a date string using string. See https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#datetime.datetime.strftime for format """
+    if second is None:
+        second = time.time()
     else:
-        timefn = time.localtime
-    if second is not None:
         try:
             second = float(second)
         except Exception:
-            raise AnsibleFilterError('Invalid value for epoch value (%s)' % second)
-    return time.strftime(string_format, timefn(second))
+            raise AnsibleFilterError(f'Invalid value for epoch value ({second})')
+
+    if utc:
+        datetime_obj = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(second, tz=datetime.timezone.utc)
+    else:
+        datetime_obj = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(second)
+    return datetime_obj.strftime(string_format)
 
 
 def quote(a):
diff --git a/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/strftime.yml b/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/strftime.yml
index d51e5817dc9..11d1f23e2d2 100644
--- a/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/strftime.yml
+++ b/lib/ansible/plugins/filter/strftime.yml
@@ -1,30 +1,37 @@
 DOCUMENTATION:
   name: strftime
   version_added: "2.4"
-  short_description: date formatting
+  short_description: Returns date and/or time
   description:
-    - Using Python's C(strftime) function, take a data formatting string and a date/time to create a formatted date.
+    - Using Python's L(strftime, https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#datetime.datetime.strftime) function, take a data formatting string and a date/time to create a formatted date.
   notes:
-    - This is a passthrough to Python's C(stftime), for a complete set of formatting options go to https://strftime.org/.
+    - This is a passthrough to Python's C(datetime.datetime.strftime), for a complete set of formatting options go to L(the Python documentation, https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes).
+    - Before Ansible Core 2.21, this was based upon C(time.strftime) Python API.
   positional: _input, second, utc
   options:
     _input:
       description:
-        - A formatting string following C(stftime) conventions.
+        - A formatting string following C(strftime) conventions.
+        - Some additional directives are not supported by all platforms. See Python documentation for more details.
         - See L(the Python documentation, https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-strptime-behavior) for a reference.
       type: str
       required: true
     second:
-      description: Datetime in seconds from C(epoch) to format, if not supplied C(gmttime/localtime) will be used.
+      description:
+        - A datetime in seconds from C(epoch) to format.
+        - If not supplied, the current time based on C(time.time()) will be used.
       type: int
     utc:
-      description: Whether time supplied is in UTC.
+      description:
+        - Whether time supplied is in UTC.
+        - If C(utc) is true, the time will be in UTC, otherwise it will be in the local timezone.
+        - Before Ansible Core 2.21, this was based upon C(time.strftime) Python API.
       type: bool
       default: false
       version_added: '2.14'
 
 EXAMPLES: |
-  # for a complete set of features go to  https://strftime.org/
+  # for a complete set of features go to https://docs.python.org/3/library/datetime.html#strftime-and-strptime-format-codes
 
   # Display year-month-day
   {{ '%Y-%m-%d' | strftime }}
diff --git a/test/integration/targets/filter_core/tasks/main.yml b/test/integration/targets/filter_core/tasks/main.yml
index a438c458a02..4f538cf12ca 100644
--- a/test/integration/targets/filter_core/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/test/integration/targets/filter_core/tasks/main.yml
@@ -384,7 +384,8 @@
     that:
       - '"%Y-%m-%d"|strftime(1585247522) == "2020-03-26"'
       - '"%Y-%m-%d"|strftime("1585247522.0") == "2020-03-26"'
-      - '"%Y-%m-%d"|strftime("1585247522.0", utc=True) == "2020-03-26"'
+      - '"%Y-%m-%d%z"|strftime("1585247522.0", utc=True) == "2020-03-26+0000"'
+      - '"%:z"|strftime(None, utc=True) == "+00:00"'
       - '("%Y"|strftime(None)).startswith("20")' # Current date, can't check much there.
       - strftime_fail is failed
       - '"Invalid value for epoch value" in strftime_fail.msg'