diff --git a/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/ArmadilloPlayerChoreographer.kt b/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/ArmadilloPlayerChoreographer.kt
index de4b831..0e072e8 100644
--- a/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/ArmadilloPlayerChoreographer.kt
+++ b/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/ArmadilloPlayerChoreographer.kt
@@ -326,7 +326,11 @@ internal class ArmadilloPlayerChoreographer : ArmadilloPlayer {
 
     override fun skipBackward() = doIfPlaybackReady { controls, _ -> controls.skipToPrevious() }
 
-    override fun seekTo(position: Milliseconds) = doIfPlaybackReady { controls, _ -> controls.seekTo(position.longValue) }
+    override fun seekTo(position: Milliseconds) = doIfPlaybackReady { controls, _ ->
+        // Add a shift constant to all seeks originating from the client application
+        // as opposed to system originated, such as from notification
+        controls.seekTo(position.longValue + Constants.AUDIO_POSITION_SHIFT_IN_MS)
+    }
 
     override fun seekWithinChapter(percent: Int) {
         val position = stateProvider.currentState.positionFromChapterPercent(percent)
diff --git a/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/Constants.kt b/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/Constants.kt
index f3bcbb9..91af7fb 100644
--- a/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/Constants.kt
+++ b/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/Constants.kt
@@ -14,6 +14,9 @@ object Constants {
 
     internal const val MAX_PARALLEL_DOWNLOADS = 6
 
+    // an arbitrarily long constant to add to seek positions from app UI
+    internal const val AUDIO_POSITION_SHIFT_IN_MS = 5000000000L
+
     /**
      * A seek to previousChapter command beyond this will restart the current media source instead of skipping to the previousChapter media source
      */
diff --git a/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/playback/MediaSessionCallback.kt b/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/playback/MediaSessionCallback.kt
index 3d153f5..1da9a8b 100644
--- a/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/playback/MediaSessionCallback.kt
+++ b/Armadillo/src/main/java/com/scribd/armadillo/playback/MediaSessionCallback.kt
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import android.view.KeyEvent
 import androidx.annotation.VisibleForTesting
 import com.scribd.armadillo.ArmadilloConfiguration
 import com.scribd.armadillo.Constants
+import com.scribd.armadillo.Constants.AUDIO_POSITION_SHIFT_IN_MS
 import com.scribd.armadillo.Milliseconds
 import com.scribd.armadillo.StateStore
 import com.scribd.armadillo.actions.CustomMediaSessionAction
@@ -184,8 +185,20 @@ internal class MediaSessionCallback(private val onMediaSessionEventListener: OnM
     }
 
     override fun onSeekTo(posInMilis: Long) {
-        playbackEngine?.seekTo(posInMilis.milliseconds)
-        Log.v(TAG, "onSeekTo: $posInMilis")
+        // if the shift has been added, then it must have originated from app UI, because we added it
+        val absolutePosition = if (posInMilis >= AUDIO_POSITION_SHIFT_IN_MS) {
+            posInMilis - AUDIO_POSITION_SHIFT_IN_MS // undo
+        } else {
+            // possibly from notification which sends position relative to chapter start
+            // so, add chapter start time to make it absolute position
+            val chapterStartTime = playbackInfo?.progress?.currentChapterIndex?.let { chapterIndex ->
+                playbackInfo?.audioPlayable?.chapters?.getOrNull(chapterIndex)?.startTime?.longValue
+            } ?: 0
+            posInMilis + chapterStartTime
+        }
+
+        playbackEngine?.seekTo(absolutePosition.milliseconds)
+        Log.v(TAG, "onSeekTo: received $posInMilis, absolute $absolutePosition")
     }
 
     override fun onCustomAction(action: String?, extras: Bundle?) {