diff --git a/pelican/generators.py b/pelican/generators.py
index ede948a4..dd5eb89e 100644
--- a/pelican/generators.py
+++ b/pelican/generators.py
@@ -268,9 +268,13 @@ class ArticlesGenerator(Generator):
                 if category != '':
                     metadata['category'] = Category(category, self.settings)
 
-            if 'date' not in metadata and self.settings['FALLBACK_ON_FS_DATE']:
+            if 'date' not in metadata and self.settings['DEFAULT_DATE']:
+                if self.settings['DEFAULT_DATE'] == 'fs':
                     metadata['date'] = datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(
-                                        os.stat(f).st_ctime)
+                            os.stat(f).st_ctime)
+                else:
+                    metadata['date'] = datetime.datetime(
+                            *self.settings['DEFAULT_DATE'])
 
             article = Article(content, metadata, settings=self.settings,
                               filename=f)
diff --git a/pelican/settings.py b/pelican/settings.py
index 4da66989..08b01133 100644
--- a/pelican/settings.py
+++ b/pelican/settings.py
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ _DEFAULT_CONFIG = {'PATH': '.',
                    'DISPLAY_PAGES_ON_MENU': True,
                    'PDF_GENERATOR': False,
                    'DEFAULT_CATEGORY': 'misc',
-                   'FALLBACK_ON_FS_DATE': True,
+                   'DEFAULT_DATE': 'fs',
                    'WITH_FUTURE_DATES': True,
                    'CSS_FILE': 'main.css',
                    'REVERSE_ARCHIVE_ORDER': False,