--- date_api_elements.inc	2008-07-26 19:05:45.000000000 +0200
+++ date_api_elements.inc	2008-08-10 23:16:49.000000000 +0200
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@
   }
   else {
     // A wrapped strtotime, that respects desired timezone (and handles lots of input formats)
-    $date = date_make_date($value, $element['#date_timezone']);
+    $date = date_create($input, timezone_open($element['#date_timezone']));
     if (date_is_valid($date, DATE_OBJECT)) {   
       return date_format($date, DATE_FORMAT_DATETIME);
     }