diff --git a/etemplate/inc/class.etemplate_widget_date.inc.php b/etemplate/inc/class.etemplate_widget_date.inc.php
index c20f0a1978..d7ada97738 100644
--- a/etemplate/inc/class.etemplate_widget_date.inc.php
+++ b/etemplate/inc/class.etemplate_widget_date.inc.php
@@ -46,8 +46,8 @@ class etemplate_widget_date extends etemplate_widget_transformer
 	 * @var string|array
 	 */
 	protected $legacy_options = 'dataformat,mode';
-	
-	
+
+
 	/**
 	 * Validate input
 	 *
@@ -70,13 +70,9 @@ class etemplate_widget_date extends etemplate_widget_transformer
 			{
 				self::set_validation_error($form_name,lang('Field must not be empty !!!'));
 			}
-			elseif (is_null($value))
-			{
-				$valid = null;
-			}
 			elseif ($this->type == 'date-duration')
 			{
-				$valid = $value;
+				$valid = (string)$value === '' ? '' : (int)$value;
 			}
 			elseif (empty($this->attrs['dataformat']))	// integer timestamp
 			{
diff --git a/etemplate/js/et2_widget_date.js b/etemplate/js/et2_widget_date.js
index eb1d1a539b..94878d5ed6 100644
--- a/etemplate/js/et2_widget_date.js
+++ b/etemplate/js/et2_widget_date.js
@@ -475,7 +475,7 @@ var et2_date_duration = et2_date.extend(
 		var value = this.duration.val().replace(',', '.');
 		if(value === '')
 		{
-			return this.options.empty_not_0 ? null : 0;
+			return this.options.empty_not_0 ? '' : 0;
 		}
 		// Put value into minutes for further processing
 		switch(this.format ? this.format.val() : this.options.display_format)