diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/json_codec.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/json_codec.py
index 0af304f6a1..4b292925f3 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/json_codec.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/json_codec.py
@@ -16,10 +16,10 @@ from calibre import isbytestring
 # Translate datetimes to and from strings. The string form is the datetime in
 # UTC. The returned date is also UTC
 def string_to_datetime(src):
-    from calibre.utils.date import parse_date
+    from calibre.utils.iso8601 import parse_iso8601
     if src != "None":
         try:
-            return parse_date(src)
+            return parse_iso8601(src)
         except Exception:
             pass
     return None
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/config.py b/src/calibre/utils/config.py
index 5e9d715bc1..7e628dc4a2 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/config.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/config.py
@@ -377,8 +377,8 @@ def from_json(obj):
         if obj['__class__'] == 'bytearray':
             return bytearray(base64.standard_b64decode(obj['__value__']))
         if obj['__class__'] == 'datetime.datetime':
-            from calibre.utils.date import parse_date
-            return parse_date(obj['__value__'], assume_utc=True)
+            from calibre.utils.iso8601 import parse_iso8601
+            return parse_iso8601(obj['__value__'], assume_utc=True)
     return obj
 
 class JSONConfig(XMLConfig):
diff --git a/src/calibre/web/feeds/recipes/collection.py b/src/calibre/web/feeds/recipes/collection.py
index 003196bac9..856e7eb3a7 100644
--- a/src/calibre/web/feeds/recipes/collection.py
+++ b/src/calibre/web/feeds/recipes/collection.py
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@ from lxml import etree
 from lxml.builder import ElementMaker
 
 from calibre import force_unicode
-from calibre.utils.date import parse_date, now as nowf, utcnow, local_tz, \
-        isoformat, fromordinal
+from calibre.utils.iso8601 import parse_iso8601
+from calibre.utils.date import now as nowf, utcnow, local_tz, isoformat, fromordinal, UNDEFINED_DATE
 from calibre.utils.recycle_bin import delete_file
 
 NS = 'http://calibre-ebook.com/recipe_collection'
@@ -292,8 +292,8 @@ class SchedulerConfig(object):
                     ld = x.get('last_downloaded', None)
                     if ld and last_downloaded is None:
                         try:
-                            last_downloaded = parse_date(ld)
-                        except:
+                            last_downloaded = parse_iso8601(ld)
+                        except Exception:
                             pass
                     self.root.remove(x)
                     break
@@ -397,7 +397,11 @@ class SchedulerConfig(object):
                     days = list(map(int, [x.strip() for x in
                         parts[0].split(',')]))
                     sch = [days, int(parts[1]), int(parts[2])]
-                return typ, sch, parse_date(recipe.get('last_downloaded'))
+                try:
+                    ld = parse_iso8601(recipe.get('last_downloaded'))
+                except Exception:
+                    ld = UNDEFINED_DATE
+                return typ, sch, ld
 
     def recipe_needs_to_be_downloaded(self, recipe):
         try: