diff --git a/api/src/Etemplate/Widget/Date.php b/api/src/Etemplate/Widget/Date.php
index 7efad0bccd..3e070dd230 100644
--- a/api/src/Etemplate/Widget/Date.php
+++ b/api/src/Etemplate/Widget/Date.php
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ class Date extends Transformer
 		{
 			$date = new Api\DateTime($value);
 		}
-		if($this->type == 'date-timeonly')
+		if($this->type == 'date-timeonly' && $date)
 		{
 			$date->setDate(1970, 1, 1);
 		}