diff --git a/headers/os/locale/DateFormat.h b/headers/os/locale/DateFormat.h
index 1789768360..879a7a25fa 100644
--- a/headers/os/locale/DateFormat.h
+++ b/headers/os/locale/DateFormat.h
@@ -71,11 +71,14 @@ public:
 			status_t			GetStartOfWeek(BWeekday* weekday) const;
 			status_t			GetMonthName(int month, BString& outName);
 
-								// TODO parsing
+								// parsing
+
+			status_t			Parse(BString source, BDateFormatStyle style,
+									BDate& output);
 
 private:
 			icu::DateFormat*	_CreateDateFormatter(
-									const BString& format) const;
+									const BDateFormatStyle style) const;
 
 };
 
diff --git a/src/kits/locale/DateFormat.cpp b/src/kits/locale/DateFormat.cpp
index 2ca66c7da0..30f7d3013a 100644
--- a/src/kits/locale/DateFormat.cpp
+++ b/src/kits/locale/DateFormat.cpp
@@ -72,9 +72,7 @@ BDateFormat::Format(char* string, const size_t maxSize, const time_t time,
 	if (!lock.IsLocked())
 		return B_ERROR;
 
-	BString format;
-	fConventions.GetDateFormat(style, format);
-	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(format));
+	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(style));
 	if (dateFormatter.Get() == NULL)
 		return B_NO_MEMORY;
 
@@ -99,9 +97,7 @@ BDateFormat::Format(BString& string, const time_t time,
 	if (!lock.IsLocked())
 		return B_ERROR;
 
-	BString format;
-	fConventions.GetDateFormat(style, format);
-	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(format));
+	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(style));
 	if (dateFormatter.Get() == NULL)
 		return B_NO_MEMORY;
 
@@ -135,9 +131,7 @@ BDateFormat::Format(BString& string, const BDate& time,
 	if (!lock.IsLocked())
 		return B_ERROR;
 
-	BString format;
-	fConventions.GetDateFormat(style, format);
-	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(format));
+	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(style));
 	if (dateFormatter.Get() == NULL)
 		return B_NO_MEMORY;
 
@@ -179,9 +173,7 @@ BDateFormat::Format(BString& string, int*& fieldPositions, int& fieldCount,
 	if (!lock.IsLocked())
 		return B_ERROR;
 
-	BString format;
-	fConventions.GetDateFormat(style, format);
-	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(format));
+	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(style));
 	if (dateFormatter.Get() == NULL)
 		return B_NO_MEMORY;
 
@@ -226,9 +218,7 @@ BDateFormat::GetFields(BDateElement*& fields, int& fieldCount,
 	if (!lock.IsLocked())
 		return B_ERROR;
 
-	BString format;
-	fConventions.GetDateFormat(style, format);
-	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(format));
+	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(style));
 	if (dateFormatter.Get() == NULL)
 		return B_NO_MEMORY;
 
@@ -332,9 +322,7 @@ BDateFormat::GetMonthName(int month, BString& outName)
 	if (!lock.IsLocked())
 		return B_ERROR;
 
-	BString pattern;
-	fConventions.GetDateFormat(B_LONG_DATE_FORMAT, pattern);
-	DateFormat* format = _CreateDateFormatter(pattern);
+	DateFormat* format = _CreateDateFormatter(B_LONG_DATE_FORMAT);
 
 	SimpleDateFormat* simpleFormat = dynamic_cast<SimpleDateFormat*>(format);
 	if (simpleFormat == NULL) {
@@ -360,8 +348,36 @@ BDateFormat::GetMonthName(int month, BString& outName)
 }
 
 
+status_t
+BDateFormat::Parse(BString source, BDateFormatStyle style, BDate& output)
+{
+	// FIXME currently this parses a date in any timezone (or the local one if
+	// none is specified) to a BDate in UTC. This may not be a good idea, we
+	// may want to parse to a "local" date instead. But BDate should be made
+	// timezone aware so things like BDate::Difference can work for dates in
+	// different timezones.
+	BAutolock lock(fLock);
+	if (!lock.IsLocked())
+		return B_ERROR;
+
+	ObjectDeleter<DateFormat> dateFormatter(_CreateDateFormatter(style));
+	if (dateFormatter.Get() == NULL)
+		return B_NO_MEMORY;
+
+
+	ParsePosition p(0);
+	UDate date = dateFormatter->parse(UnicodeString::fromUTF8(source.String()),
+		p);
+
+	output.SetDate(1970, 1, 1);
+	output.AddDays(date / U_MILLIS_PER_DAY + 0.5);
+
+	return B_OK;
+}
+
+
 DateFormat*
-BDateFormat::_CreateDateFormatter(const BString& format) const
+BDateFormat::_CreateDateFormatter(const BDateFormatStyle style) const
 {
 	Locale* icuLocale
 		= fConventions.UseStringsFromPreferredLanguage()
@@ -376,6 +392,9 @@ BDateFormat::_CreateDateFormatter(const BString& format) const
 	SimpleDateFormat* dateFormatterImpl
 		= static_cast<SimpleDateFormat*>(dateFormatter);
 
+	BString format;
+	fConventions.GetDateFormat(style, format);
+
 	UnicodeString pattern(format.String());
 	dateFormatterImpl->applyPattern(pattern);
 
diff --git a/src/tests/kits/locale/DateFormatTest.cpp b/src/tests/kits/locale/DateFormatTest.cpp
index 9430c2e9ef..0eb96ff947 100644
--- a/src/tests/kits/locale/DateFormatTest.cpp
+++ b/src/tests/kits/locale/DateFormatTest.cpp
@@ -143,6 +143,48 @@ DateFormatTest::TestMonthNames()
 	CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(B_OK, result);
 }
 
+std::ostream& operator<<(std::ostream& stream, const BDate& date)
+{
+	 stream << date.Year();
+	 stream << '-';
+	 stream << date.Month();
+	 stream << '-';
+	 stream << date.Day();
+
+	 return stream;
+}
+
+
+void
+DateFormatTest::TestParseDate()
+{
+	BLanguage language("en");
+	BFormattingConventions formatting("en_US");
+	BDateFormat format(&language, &formatting);
+	BDate date;
+	status_t result;
+
+	struct Test {
+		const char* input;
+		BDate output;
+	};
+
+	static const Test tests[] = {
+		{"01/01/1970", BDate(1970, 1, 1)},
+		{"05/07/1988", BDate(1988, 5, 7)},
+		{"07/31/2345", BDate(2345, 7, 31)},
+		{NULL}
+	};
+
+	for (int i = 0; tests[i].input != NULL; i++) {
+		NextSubTest();
+		result = format.Parse(tests[i].input, B_SHORT_DATE_FORMAT, date);
+
+		CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(tests[i].output, date);
+		CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(B_OK, result);
+	}
+}
+
 
 /*static*/ void
 DateFormatTest::AddTests(BTestSuite& parent)
@@ -157,6 +199,8 @@ DateFormatTest::AddTests(BTestSuite& parent)
 		"DateFormatTest::TestFormatDate", &DateFormatTest::TestFormatDate));
 	suite.addTest(new CppUnit::TestCaller<DateFormatTest>(
 		"DateFormatTest::TestMonthNames", &DateFormatTest::TestMonthNames));
+	suite.addTest(new CppUnit::TestCaller<DateFormatTest>(
+		"DateFormatTest::TestParseDate", &DateFormatTest::TestParseDate));
 
 	parent.addTest("DateFormatTest", &suite);
 }
diff --git a/src/tests/kits/locale/DateFormatTest.h b/src/tests/kits/locale/DateFormatTest.h
index b0e52d4be8..f886e69bde 100644
--- a/src/tests/kits/locale/DateFormatTest.h
+++ b/src/tests/kits/locale/DateFormatTest.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ public:
 			void	TestFormat();
 			void	TestFormatDate();
 			void	TestMonthNames();
+			void	TestParseDate();
 
 	static	void	AddTests(BTestSuite& suite);
 };