diff --git a/src/Angular.js b/src/Angular.js
index 3ce8e7dfd060..3c5bfa4b4377 100644
--- a/src/Angular.js
+++ b/src/Angular.js
@@ -73,8 +73,7 @@ var $boolean          = 'boolean',
     angularModule,
     /** @name angular.module.ng */
     nodeName_,
-    uid               = ['0', '0', '0'],
-    DATE_ISOSTRING_LN = 24;
+    uid               = ['0', '0', '0'];
 
 /**
  * @ngdoc function
diff --git a/src/JSON.js b/src/JSON.js
index 983a53e8743c..83d1e927b70b 100644
--- a/src/JSON.js
+++ b/src/JSON.js
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ function fromJson(json, useNative) {
   // TODO make forEach optionally recursive and remove this function
   // TODO(misko): remove this once the $http service is checked in.
   function transformDates(obj) {
-    if (isString(obj) && obj.length === DATE_ISOSTRING_LN) {
+    if (isString(obj) && 15 <= obj.length && obj.length <= 24) {
       return jsonStringToDate(obj);
     } else if (isArray(obj) || isObject(obj)) {
       forEach(obj, function(val, name) {
@@ -58,16 +58,25 @@ function fromJson(json, useNative) {
   }
 }
 
-var R_ISO8061_STR = /^(\d{4})-(\d\d)-(\d\d)(?:T(\d\d)(?:\:(\d\d)(?:\:(\d\d)(?:\.(\d{3}))?)?)?Z)?$/;
+var R_ISO8061_STR = /^(\d{4})-?(\d\d)-?(\d\d)(?:T(\d\d)(?:\:?(\d\d)(?:\:?(\d\d)(?:\.(\d{3}))?)?)?(Z|([+-])(\d\d):?(\d\d)))?$/;
 function jsonStringToDate(string){
   var match;
-  if (isString(string) && (match = string.match(R_ISO8061_STR))){
-    var date = new Date(0);
-    date.setUTCFullYear(match[1], match[2] - 1, match[3]);
-    date.setUTCHours(match[4]||0, match[5]||0, match[6]||0, match[7]||0);
+  if (match = string.match(R_ISO8061_STR)) {
+    var date = new Date(0),
+        tzHour = 0,
+        tzMin  = 0;
+    if (match[9]) {
+      tzHour = int(match[9] + match[10]);
+      tzMin = int(match[9] + match[11]);
+    }
+    date.setUTCFullYear(int(match[1]), int(match[2]) - 1, int(match[3]));
+    date.setUTCHours(int(match[4]||0) - tzHour, int(match[5]||0) - tzMin, int(match[6]||0), int(match[7]||0));
     return date;
   }
   return string;
+  function int(str) {
+    return parseInt(str, 10);
+  }
 }
 
 function jsonDateToString(date){
diff --git a/test/JsonSpec.js b/test/JsonSpec.js
index df1e428a14d4..e4abeef94429 100644
--- a/test/JsonSpec.js
+++ b/test/JsonSpec.js
@@ -220,42 +220,44 @@ describe('json', function() {
   });
 
 
-  it('should read/write to date', function() {
-    var date = new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:03 GMT');
-    expect(jsonDateToString(date)).toBe('2003-09-10T13:02:03.000Z');
-    expect(jsonStringToDate(jsonDateToString(date)).getTime()).toBe(date.getTime());
-  });
+  describe('iso 8061 date', function() {
+    it('should read/write to date', function() {
+      var date = new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:03 GMT');
+      expect(jsonDateToString(date)).toBe('2003-09-10T13:02:03.000Z');
+      expect(jsonStringToDate(jsonDateToString(date)).getTime()).toBe(date.getTime());
+    });
 
 
-  it('should convert to date', function() {
-    //full ISO8061
-    expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13:02:03.000Z')).
-      toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:03 GMT'));
+    it('should convert to date', function() {
+      //full ISO8061
+      expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13:02:03.000Z')).toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:03 GMT'));
 
-    //no millis
-    expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13:02:03Z')).
-      toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:03 GMT'));
+      expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13:02:03.000+00:00')).toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:03 GMT'));
 
-    //no seconds
-    expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13:02Z')).
-      toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:00 GMT'));
+      expect(jsonStringToDate('20030910T033203-0930')).toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:03 GMT'));
 
-    //no minutes
-    expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13Z')).
-      toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:00:00 GMT'));
+      //no millis
+      expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13:02:03Z')).toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:03 GMT'));
 
-    //no time
-    expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10')).
-      toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 00:00:00 GMT'));
-  });
+      //no seconds
+      expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13:02Z')).toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:02:00 GMT'));
 
+      //no minutes
+      expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13Z')).toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 13:00:00 GMT'));
 
-  it('should parse date', function() {
-    var date = jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13:02:03.000Z');
-    expect(jsonDateToString(date)).toBe('2003-09-10T13:02:03.000Z');
-    expect(jsonStringToDate('str')).toBe('str');
-  });
+      //no time
+      expect(jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10')).toEqual(new Date('Sep 10 2003 00:00:00 GMT'));
 
+      expect(jsonStringToDate('2011-12-28T13:02:09-08:00')).toEqual(new Date('Dec 28 2011 21:02:09 GMT'));
+    });
+
+
+    it('should parse date', function() {
+      var date = jsonStringToDate('2003-09-10T13:02:03.000Z');
+      expect(jsonDateToString(date)).toBe('2003-09-10T13:02:03.000Z');
+      expect(jsonStringToDate('str')).toBe('str');
+    });
+  });
 
   describe('string', function() {
     it('should quote', function() {