diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Datetime/Element/Datelist.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Datetime/Element/Datelist.php
index c68a787..2caa4ca 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Datetime/Element/Datelist.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Datetime/Element/Datelist.php
@@ -252,7 +252,7 @@ public static function processDatelist(&$element, FormStateInterface $form_state
           $title = '';
       }
 
-      $default = !empty($element['#value'][$part]) ? $element['#value'][$part] : '';
+      $default = isset($element['#value'][$part]) && trim($element['#value'][$part]) != '' ? $element['#value'][$part] : '';
       $value = $date instanceOf DrupalDateTime && !$date->hasErrors() ? $date->format($format) : $default;
       if (!empty($value) && $part != 'ampm') {
         $value = intval($value);
@@ -313,9 +313,8 @@ public static function validateDatelist(&$element, FormStateInterface $form_stat
         $form_state->setError($element, t('The %field date is required.'));
       }
       elseif (!empty($all_empty)) {
-        foreach ( $all_empty as $value ){
-          $message = t('A value must be selected for %part.', array('%part' => $value));
-          $form_state->setError($element[$value], $message);
+        foreach ($all_empty as $value){
+          $form_state->setError($element[$value], t('A value must be selected for %part.', array('%part' => $value)));
         }
       }
       else {
@@ -341,20 +340,17 @@ public static function validateDatelist(&$element, FormStateInterface $form_stat
    * returned array is empty.
    *
    * @param array $input
-   *   Array of individual inputs to check for value
+   *   Array of individual inputs to check for value.
    * @param array $parts
-   *   Array to check input against, ignoring elements not in this array
+   *   Array to check input against, ignoring elements not in this array.
+   *
    * @return array
-   *   Array of keys from the input array that have no value, may be empty
+   *   Array of keys from the input array that have no value, may be empty.
    */
   protected static function checkEmptyInputs($input, $parts) {
-    $empty_parts = [];
-    foreach ($parts as $part) {
-      if (empty($input[$part])) {
-        $empty_parts[] = $part;
-      }
-    }
-    return $empty_parts;
+    // Filters out empty array values, any valid value would have a string length.
+    $filtered_input = array_filter($input, 'strlen');
+    return array_diff($parts, array_keys($filtered_input));
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/modules/datetime/src/Tests/DateTimeFieldTest.php b/core/modules/datetime/src/Tests/DateTimeFieldTest.php
index 70ec207..44e542a 100644
--- a/core/modules/datetime/src/Tests/DateTimeFieldTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/datetime/src/Tests/DateTimeFieldTest.php
@@ -492,11 +492,43 @@ function testDatelistWidget() {
       ->save();
     \Drupal::entityManager()->clearCachedFieldDefinitions();
 
-    // Display creation form.
+    // Test the widget for validation notifications.
+    foreach ($this->datelistDataProvider() as $data) {
+      list($date_value, $expected) = $data;
+
+      // Display creation form.
+      $this->drupalGet('entity_test/add');
+
+      // Submit a partial date and ensure and error message is provided.
+      $edit = array();
+      foreach ($date_value as $part => $value) {
+        $edit["{$field_name}[0][value][$part]"] = $value;
+      }
+
+      $this->drupalPostForm(NULL, $edit, t('Save'));
+      $this->assertResponse(200);
+      $this->assertText(t($expected));
+    }
+
+    // Test the widget for complete input with zeros as part of selections.
+    $this->drupalGet('entity_test/add');
+
+    $date_value = array('year' => 2012, 'month' => '12', 'day' => '31', 'hour' => '0', 'minute' => '0');
+    $edit = array();
+    foreach ($date_value as $part => $value) {
+      $edit["{$field_name}[0][value][$part]"] = $value;
+    }
+
+    $this->drupalPostForm(NULL, $edit, t('Save'));
+    $this->assertResponse(200);
+    preg_match('|entity_test/manage/(\d+)|', $this->url, $match);
+    $id = $match[1];
+    $this->assertText(t('entity_test @id has been created.', array('@id' => $id)));
+
+    // Test the widget to ensure zeros are not deselected on validation.
     $this->drupalGet('entity_test/add');
 
-    // Submit a partial date and ensure and error message is provided
-    $date_value = array('year' => 2012, 'month' => '', 'day' => '', 'hour' => '', 'minute' => '');
+    $date_value = array('year' => 2012, 'month' => '12', 'day' => '31', 'hour' => '', 'minute' => '0');
     $edit = array();
     foreach ($date_value as $part => $value) {
       $edit["{$field_name}[0][value][$part]"] = $value;
@@ -504,7 +536,26 @@ function testDatelistWidget() {
 
     $this->drupalPostForm(NULL, $edit, t('Save'));
     $this->assertResponse(200);
-    $this->assertTextPattern('/(error has)|(errors have) been found/', 'Date validation error found');
+    $this->assertOptionSelected("edit-$field_name-0-value-minute", '0', 'Correct minute selected.');
+ }
+
+  /**
+   * The data provider for testing the validation of the datelist widget.
+   *
+   * @return array
+   *   An array of datelist input permutations to test.
+   */
+  protected function datelistDataProvider() {
+    return [
+      // Year only selected, validation error on Month, Day, Hour, Minute.
+      [['year' => 2012, 'month' => '', 'day' => '', 'hour' => '', 'minute' => ''], '4 errors have been found: Month, Day, Hour, Minute'],
+      // Year and Month selected, validation error on Day, Hour, Minute.
+      [['year' => 2012, 'month' => '12', 'day' => '', 'hour' => '', 'minute' => ''], '3 errors have been found: Day, Hour, Minute'],
+      // Year, Month and Day selected, validation error on Hour, Minute.
+      [['year' => 2012, 'month' => '12', 'day' => '31', 'hour' => '', 'minute' => ''], '2 errors have been found: Hour, Minute'],
+      // Year, Month, Day and Hour selected, validation error on Minute only.
+      [['year' => 2012, 'month' => '12', 'day' => '31', 'hour' => '0', 'minute' => ''], '1 error has been found: Minute'],
+    ];
   }
 
   /**