diff --git a/httplite/core/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/httplite/servlet/HttpConstants.java b/httplite/core/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/httplite/servlet/HttpConstants.java
index 940aac7..6dae42b 100644
--- a/httplite/core/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/httplite/servlet/HttpConstants.java
+++ b/httplite/core/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/httplite/servlet/HttpConstants.java
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@
     /**
      * Date format for HTTP
      */
-    public static final String HTTP_DATE_FORMAT = "EEE, d MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss z";
+    public static final String HTTP_DATE_FORMAT = "EEE, dd MMM yyyy HH:mm:ss zzz";
     /**
      * Timezone specified for HTTP
      */
diff --git a/httplite/core/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/httplite/servlet/HttpServletRequestImpl.java b/httplite/core/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/httplite/servlet/HttpServletRequestImpl.java
index bde9584..ebd8609 100644
--- a/httplite/core/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/httplite/servlet/HttpServletRequestImpl.java
+++ b/httplite/core/src/main/java/org/apache/felix/httplite/servlet/HttpServletRequestImpl.java
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 import java.util.Locale;
 import java.util.Map;
 import java.util.StringTokenizer;
+import java.util.TimeZone;
 
 import javax.servlet.RequestDispatcher;
 import javax.servlet.ServletInputStream;
@@ -820,8 +821,8 @@
 
         try
         {
-            SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat();
-
+            SimpleDateFormat sdf = new SimpleDateFormat(HttpConstants.HTTP_DATE_FORMAT);
+            sdf.setTimeZone(TimeZone.getTimeZone(HttpConstants.HTTP_TIMEZONE));
             return sdf.parse( headerValue ).getTime();
         }
         catch ( ParseException e )