diff --git a/date_api/date_api_sql.inc b/date_api/date_api_sql.inc
index a2adc65..be4f0d7 100644
--- a/date_api/date_api_sql.inc
+++ b/date_api/date_api_sql.inc
@@ -88,11 +88,16 @@ class date_sql_handler {
   /**
    * The object constuctor.
    */
-  function __construct($date_type = DATE_DATETIME, $local_timezone = NULL, $offset = '+00:00') {
+  function __construct($date_type = DATE_DATETIME, $local_timezone = NULL, $offset = null) {
     $this->db_type = db_driver();
     $this->date_type = $date_type;
     $this->db_timezone = 'UTC';
     $this->local_timezone = isset($local_timezone) ? $local_timezone : date_default_timezone();
+    if ($offset == null) {
+      $default_offset = (int)$this->get_offset();
+      $offset = ($default_offset < 0) ? '-' : '+';
+      $offset .= sprintf('%02s:%02s',intval(intval($default_offset)) / 3600, intval(($default_offset / 60) % 60) )
+    }    
     $this->set_db_timezone($offset);
   }