diff --git a/pelican/contents.py b/pelican/contents.py
index ed213c31..2eb48374 100644
--- a/pelican/contents.py
+++ b/pelican/contents.py
@@ -12,12 +12,11 @@ import sys
 
 from datetime import datetime
 
-
 from pelican import signals
 from pelican.settings import DEFAULT_CONFIG
 from pelican.utils import (slugify, truncate_html_words, memoized, strftime,
                            python_2_unicode_compatible, deprecated_attribute,
-                           path_to_url)
+                           path_to_url, set_date_tzinfo)
 
 # Import these so that they're avalaible when you import from pelican.contents.
 from pelican.urlwrappers import (URLWrapper, Author, Category, Tag)  # NOQA
@@ -106,8 +105,15 @@ class Content(object):
             locale.setlocale(locale.LC_ALL, locale_string)
             self.date_format = self.date_format[1]
 
+        #Give valid timezone for date object
         if hasattr(self, 'date'):
             self.locale_date = strftime(self.date, self.date_format)
+            if hasattr(self, 'timezone'):
+                set_date_tzinfo(self.date,self.timezone)
+            elif 'TIMEZONE' in self.settings:
+                set_date_tzinfo(self.date, settings['TIMEZONE'])
+            else:
+                set_date_tzinfo(self.date,'UTC')
 
         # manage status
         if not hasattr(self, 'status'):
diff --git a/pelican/tests/test_utils.py b/pelican/tests/test_utils.py
index 0642926e..465d21bb 100644
--- a/pelican/tests/test_utils.py
+++ b/pelican/tests/test_utils.py
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ from pelican.settings import read_settings
 from pelican import utils
 from .support import get_article, LoggedTestCase, locale_available, unittest
 
-
 class TestUtils(LoggedTestCase):
     _new_attribute = 'new_value'
 
@@ -70,15 +69,12 @@ class TestUtils(LoggedTestCase):
         # invalid ones
         invalid_dates = ['2010-110-12', 'yay']
 
-        if version_info < (3, 2):
-            dates.pop('2012-11-22T22:11:10-0500')
-            invalid_dates.append('2012-11-22T22:11:10-0500')
-
         for value, expected in dates.items():
             self.assertEqual(utils.get_date(value), expected, value)
 
-        for item in invalid_dates:
-            self.assertRaises(ValueError, utils.get_date, item)
+        for date in invalid_dates:
+            self.assertRaises(ValueError, utils.get_date, date)
+
 
     def test_slugify(self):
 
@@ -238,6 +234,8 @@ class TestUtils(LoggedTestCase):
         self.assertEqual(utils.strftime(d, '%d/%m/%y'), '29/08/12')
         self.assertEqual(utils.strftime(d, '%d/%m/%Y'), '29/08/2012')
 
+        # RFC 339 Test
+        self.assertEqual(utils.strftime(d, '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ'),'2012-08-29T00:00:00Z')
         # % escaped
         self.assertEqual(utils.strftime(d, '%d%%%m%%%y'), '29%08%12')
         self.assertEqual(utils.strftime(d, '%d %% %m %% %y'), '29 % 08 % 12')
diff --git a/pelican/utils.py b/pelican/utils.py
index 054c1f40..02b33e60 100644
--- a/pelican/utils.py
+++ b/pelican/utils.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from functools import partial
 from itertools import groupby
 from jinja2 import Markup
 from operator import attrgetter
+from dateutil import parser
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -180,40 +181,10 @@ def get_date(string):
 
     If no format matches the given date, raise a ValueError.
     """
-    string = re.sub(' +', ' ', string)
-    formats = [
-        # ISO 8601
-        '%Y',
-        '%Y-%m',
-        '%Y-%m-%d',
-        '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M%z',
-        '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%MZ',
-        '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M',
-        '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z',
-        '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%SZ',
-        '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S',
-        '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%f%z',
-        '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%fZ',
-        '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%f',
-        # end ISO 8601 forms
-        '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M',
-        '%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S',
-        '%Y/%m/%d %H:%M',
-        '%Y/%m/%d',
-        '%d-%m-%Y',
-        '%d.%m.%Y %H:%M',
-        '%d.%m.%Y',
-        '%d/%m/%Y',
-        ]
-    for date_format in formats:
-        try:
-            date = datetime.strptime(string, date_format)
-        except ValueError:
-            continue
-        if date_format.endswith('Z'):
-            date = date.replace(tzinfo=pytz.timezone('UTC'))
-        return date
-    raise ValueError('{0!r} is not a valid date'.format(string))
+    try:
+        return parser.parse(string)
+    except ValueError:
+        raise ValueError('{0!r} is not a valid date'.format(string))
 
 
 @contextmanager