diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index ead02d9a9..c5a487d8b 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -9,12 +9,13 @@ New Features in taskwarrior 2.4.0
     TAGGED.
   - The '_get' command properly uses exit codes.
   - Regular expressions are now enabled by default.
-  - The 'filter' verbosity token shows the complete filter used for hte last
+  - The 'filter' verbosity token shows the complete filter used for the last
     command.
 
 New commands in taskwarrior 2.4.0
 
-  - New 'calc' utility for quick command line calculations.
+  - New 'calc' command (and standalone utility) for quick command line
+    calculations.
 
 New configuration options in taskwarrior 2.4.0
 
diff --git a/src/Context.cpp b/src/Context.cpp
index 99b72311d..1112b8705 100644
--- a/src/Context.cpp
+++ b/src/Context.cpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 #include <Directory.h>
 #include <File.h>
 #include <Eval.h>
+#include <Variant.h>
 #include <text.h>
 #include <util.h>
 #include <main.h>
@@ -639,6 +640,8 @@ void Context::staticInitialization ()
         var->substr (0, 12) == "urgency.uda.")
       Task::coefficients[*var] = config.getReal (*var);
   }
+
+  Variant::dateFormat = config.get ("dateformat");
 }
 
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
diff --git a/src/Variant.cpp b/src/Variant.cpp
index ee848a05d..514891f2a 100644
--- a/src/Variant.cpp
+++ b/src/Variant.cpp
@@ -31,10 +31,13 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <Variant.h>
 #include <ISO8601.h>
+#include <Date.h>
 #include <Duration.h>
 #include <RX.h>
 #include <text.h>
 
+std::string Variant::dateFormat = "";
+
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 Variant::Variant ()
 : _type (type_unknown)
@@ -1590,6 +1593,12 @@ void Variant::cast (const enum type new_type)
         {
           _date = (time_t) iso;
         }
+        // Support legacy date formats.
+        else if (dateFormat != "")
+        {
+          Date d (_string, dateFormat);
+          _date = d.toEpoch ();
+        }
       }
       break;
     case type_duration:
diff --git a/src/Variant.h b/src/Variant.h
index a4e24e14f..89734d62a 100644
--- a/src/Variant.h
+++ b/src/Variant.h
@@ -33,6 +33,8 @@
 class Variant
 {
 public:
+  static std::string dateFormat;
+
   enum type {type_unknown, type_boolean, type_integer, type_real, type_string,
              type_date, type_duration};