diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index f52899a..e964c66 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
 ## [Unreleased]
+- handle due date parsing errors in `mxtodo-create-todo`
 
 ## [0.1.0] - 2021-08-07
 ### Added
diff --git a/mxtodo.el b/mxtodo.el
index 82aaa4b..efe1ac1 100644
--- a/mxtodo.el
+++ b/mxtodo.el
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 ;; Copyright (C) 2021 Robert Voyer.
 
 ;; Author: Robert Voyer <robert.voyer@gmail.com>
-;; Version: 0.1
+;; Version: 0.1.0
 ;; Package-Requires: ((emacs "26.1") (dash "2.19.0") (f "0.20.0") (ts "0.2"))
 ;; Keywords: calendar, convenience
 ;; URL: https://github.com/rlvoyer/mxtodo
@@ -359,9 +359,17 @@ with incomplete todo items first, followed by completed todo items."
     (beginning-of-line)
     (looking-at-p "[[:space:]]*$")))
 
+(defun mxtodo--parse-date (date-str)
+  "Parse the specified date string into a ts or return an error if it failed to parse."
+  (condition-case
+      nil
+      (cl-values (ts-parse-fill 'begin date-str) nil)
+    (error
+     (cl-values nil (format "Unable to parse specified date string %s; date must be ISO-8601-formatted." date-str)))))
+
 ;;;###autoload
 (defun mxtodo-create-todo (&optional buffer-name todo-text due-date-ts)
-  "Add a TODO to today's daily note."
+  "Add a todo to today's daily note, updating todo buffer with name BUFFER-NAME."
   (interactive)
   (save-excursion
     (progn
@@ -372,8 +380,10 @@ with incomplete todo items first, followed by completed todo items."
       (unless due-date-ts
         (let ((due-date-read (read-string "(Optional) Enter a due date: ")))
           (if (not (string= "" due-date-read))
-              (setq due-date-ts (ts-parse-fill 'begin due-date-read))
-            (setq due-date-ts nil))))
+              (-let [(due-date-parsed err) (mxtodo--parse-date due-date-read)]
+                (if (not (equal err nil))
+                    (error err)
+                  (setq due-date-ts due-date-parsed))))))
       (let ((file-name (mxtodo-create-daily-note)))
         (progn
           (goto-char (point-max))
diff --git a/test/test.el b/test/test.el
index 59158e3..81fd73f 100644
--- a/test/test.el
+++ b/test/test.el
@@ -53,28 +53,6 @@
          (expected (vector "write more tests" nil expected-due-date)))
     (should (equal (aref expected 2) (aref actual 2)))))
 
-(ert-deftest test-make-todo-from-temp-file-line ()
-  "Tests that a TODO can be constructed from a temp file line."
-  (let ((expected
-         (make-mxtodo-item :file-path "/Users/robertvoyer/Documents/Notes/2021-6-24.md"
-                                :file-line-number 10
-                                :file-display-date-ts (make-ts :year 2021
-                                                               :month 6
-                                                               :day 24
-                                                               :hour 0
-                                                               :minute 0
-                                                               :second 0)
-                                :file-last-update-ts (make-ts :unix 1624637870)
-                                :text "write some unit tests"
-                                :is-completed t))
-        (actual
-         (mxtodo--make-todo-from-temp-file-line  "/Users/robertvoyer/Documents/Notes/2021-6-24.md	10	- [x] write some unit tests	1624637870")))
-    (should (equal expected actual))))
-
-(defun todo-text-no-properties (rendered-todo-item)
-  "Test helper function that renders a RENDERED-TODO-ITEM as a string with no properties."
-  (substring-no-properties rendered-todo-item 0 (next-single-property-change 0 'invisible rendered-todo-item)))
-
 (ert-deftest test-render-date ()
   "Tests that a TODO date renders correctly."
   (let* ((date
@@ -130,6 +108,53 @@
          (actual (todo-text-no-properties (mxtodo--render-todo input-todo))))
     (should (equal expected actual))))
 
+(ert-deftest test-parse-bad-date-returns-cl-values-with-a-non-nil-error ()
+  "Tests that mxtodo--parse-date fails on non-ISO-8601-formatted input."
+  (let ((expected (cl-values nil "Unable to parse specified date string 2021-8-7; date must be ISO-8601-formatted."))
+        (actual (mxtodo--parse-date "2021-8-7")))
+    (should (equal expected actual))))
+
+(ert-deftest test-parse-good-date-returns-cl-values ()
+  "Tests that mxtodo--parse-date succeeds on ISO-8601-formatted input."
+  (let* ((date-str "2021-08-07")
+         (expected-error nil)
+         (expected-year 2021)
+         (expected-month 8)
+         (expected-day 7)
+         (actual (mxtodo--parse-date date-str))
+         (actual-error (nth 1 actual))
+         (actual-date (car actual))
+         (actual-year (ts-year actual-date))
+         (actual-month (ts-month actual-date))
+         (actual-day (ts-day actual-date)))
+    (progn
+      (should (equal expected-error actual-error))
+      (should (equal expected-year actual-year))
+      (should (equal expected-month actual-month))
+      (should (equal expected-day actual-day)))))
+
+
+(ert-deftest test-make-todo-from-temp-file-line ()
+  "Tests that a TODO can be constructed from a temp file line."
+  (let ((expected
+         (make-mxtodo-item :file-path "/Users/robertvoyer/Documents/Notes/2021-6-24.md"
+                                :file-line-number 10
+                                :file-display-date-ts (make-ts :year 2021
+                                                               :month 6
+                                                               :day 24
+                                                               :hour 0
+                                                               :minute 0
+                                                               :second 0)
+                                :file-last-update-ts (make-ts :unix 1624637870)
+                                :text "write some unit tests"
+                                :is-completed t))
+        (actual
+         (mxtodo--make-todo-from-temp-file-line  "/Users/robertvoyer/Documents/Notes/2021-6-24.md	10	- [x] write some unit tests	1624637870")))
+    (should (equal expected actual))))
+
+(defun todo-text-no-properties (rendered-todo-item)
+  "Test helper function that renders a RENDERED-TODO-ITEM as a string with no properties."
+  (substring-no-properties rendered-todo-item 0 (next-single-property-change 0 'invisible rendered-todo-item)))
 
 (defun nshuffle (sequence)
   "Shuffle SEQUENCE."