diff --git a/main/src/com/google/refine/util/ParsingUtilities.java b/main/src/com/google/refine/util/ParsingUtilities.java
index b2f107a21..123815fb6 100644
--- a/main/src/com/google/refine/util/ParsingUtilities.java
+++ b/main/src/com/google/refine/util/ParsingUtilities.java
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ import java.time.OffsetDateTime;
 import java.time.ZoneId;
 import java.time.ZoneOffset;
 import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter;
+import java.time.format.DateTimeParseException;
 import java.util.Properties;
 
 import javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest;
@@ -188,13 +189,31 @@ public class ParsingUtilities {
      * @return LocalDateTime or null if the parse failed
      */
     static public OffsetDateTime stringToDate(String s) {
-        Instant instant = Instant.parse(s);
-        return OffsetDateTime.ofInstant(instant, ZoneId.of("Z"));
+        // Accept timestamps with an explicit time zone
+        try {
+            return OffsetDateTime.parse(s);
+        } catch(DateTimeParseException e) {
+            
+        }
+        
+        // Also accept timestamps without an explicit zone and
+        // assume them to be in local time.
+        try {
+            LocalDateTime localTime = LocalDateTime.parse(s);
+            return OffsetDateTime.of(localTime, ZoneId.systemDefault().getRules().getOffset(localTime));
+        } catch(DateTimeParseException e) {
+            
+        }
+        return null;
     }
     
     static public LocalDateTime stringToLocalDate(String s) {
-        Instant instant = Instant.parse(s);
-        return LocalDateTime.ofInstant(instant, ZoneId.systemDefault());
+        // parse the string as a date and express it in local time
+        OffsetDateTime parsed = stringToDate(s);
+        if (parsed == null) {
+            return null;
+        }
+        return parsed.toLocalDateTime();
     }
     
     static public String instantToString(Instant instant) {
diff --git a/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/util/ParsingUtilitiesTests.java b/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/util/ParsingUtilitiesTests.java
index 91baccd76..9b396ca32 100644
--- a/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/util/ParsingUtilitiesTests.java
+++ b/main/tests/server/src/com/google/refine/tests/util/ParsingUtilitiesTests.java
@@ -105,7 +105,24 @@ public class ParsingUtilitiesTests extends RefineTest {
         OffsetDateTime zdt = ParsingUtilities.stringToDate(historyEntryDate);
         String zdtString = ParsingUtilities.dateToString(zdt);
         Assert.assertEquals(zdtString, historyEntryDate);
-        
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void stringToDate() {
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43.123").getYear());
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43").getYear());
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43Z").getYear());
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43.123Z").getYear());
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43+00:00").getYear());
+    }
+    
+    @Test
+    public void stringToLocalDate() {
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToLocalDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43.123").getYear());
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToLocalDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43").getYear());
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToLocalDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43Z").getYear());
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToLocalDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43.123Z").getYear());
+        Assert.assertEquals(2017, ParsingUtilities.stringToLocalDate("2017-04-03T08:09:43+00:00").getYear());
     }
     
     @Test