diff --git a/lib/musicbrainz/models/base_model.rb b/lib/musicbrainz/models/base_model.rb
index 38f6e47..cca3302 100644
--- a/lib/musicbrainz/models/base_model.rb
+++ b/lib/musicbrainz/models/base_model.rb
@@ -46,14 +46,18 @@ module MusicBrainz
         elsif type == String
           val.to_s
         elsif type == Date
-          if val.nil? or val == ""
-            val = "2030-12-31"
+          val = if val.nil? or val == ""
+            [2030, 12, 31]
           elsif val.split("-").length == 1
-            val << "-12-31"
+            [val.split("-").first.to_i, 12, 31]
           elsif val.split("-").length == 2
-            val << "-31"
+            val = val.split("-").map(&:to_i)
+            [val.first, val.last, -1]
+          else
+            val.split("-").map(&:to_i)
           end
-          Date.new(*val.split(?-).map(&:to_i))
+          
+          Date.new(*val)
         else
           val
         end
diff --git a/spec/models/base_model_spec.rb b/spec/models/base_model_spec.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..753bf83
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/models/base_model_spec.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+# -*- encoding: utf-8 -*-
+
+require "spec_helper"
+
+describe MusicBrainz::BaseModel do
+  describe '#validate_type' do
+    describe 'Date' do
+      context 'nil value' do
+        it 'returns 2030-12-31' do
+          response = '<release-group><first-release-date></first-release-date></release-group>'
+          xml = Nokogiri::XML.parse(response)
+          release_group = MusicBrainz::ReleaseGroup.new MusicBrainz::Bindings::ReleaseGroup.parse(xml)
+          release_group.first_release_date.should == Date.new(2030, 12, 31)
+        end
+      end
+      
+      context 'year only' do
+        it 'returns 1995-04-30' do
+          response = '<release-group><first-release-date>1995</first-release-date></release-group>'
+          xml = Nokogiri::XML.parse(response)
+          release_group = MusicBrainz::ReleaseGroup.new MusicBrainz::Bindings::ReleaseGroup.parse(xml)
+          release_group.first_release_date.should == Date.new(1995, 12, 31)
+        end
+      end
+      
+      context 'year and month only' do
+        it 'returns 1995-04-30' do
+          response = '<release-group><first-release-date>1995-04</first-release-date></release-group>'
+          xml = Nokogiri::XML.parse(response)
+          release_group = MusicBrainz::ReleaseGroup.new MusicBrainz::Bindings::ReleaseGroup.parse(xml)
+          release_group.first_release_date.should == Date.new(1995, 4, 30)
+        end
+      end
+      
+      context 'year, month and day' do
+        it 'returns 1995-04-30' do
+          response = '<release-group><first-release-date>1995-04-30</first-release-date></release-group>'
+          xml = Nokogiri::XML.parse(response)
+          release_group = MusicBrainz::ReleaseGroup.new MusicBrainz::Bindings::ReleaseGroup.parse(xml)
+          release_group.first_release_date.should == Date.new(1995, 4, 30)
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
\ No newline at end of file