diff --git a/lib/src/main/kotlin/at/bitfire/vcard4android/contactrow/EventHandler.kt b/lib/src/main/kotlin/at/bitfire/vcard4android/contactrow/EventHandler.kt
index 66a581f7..e77070cb 100644
--- a/lib/src/main/kotlin/at/bitfire/vcard4android/contactrow/EventHandler.kt
+++ b/lib/src/main/kotlin/at/bitfire/vcard4android/contactrow/EventHandler.kt
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ package at.bitfire.vcard4android.contactrow
 
 import android.content.ContentValues
 import android.provider.ContactsContract.CommonDataKinds.Event
+import androidx.annotation.VisibleForTesting
 import at.bitfire.vcard4android.Contact
 import at.bitfire.vcard4android.LabeledProperty
 import at.bitfire.vcard4android.Utils.trimToNull
@@ -16,33 +17,67 @@ import ezvcard.property.Anniversary
 import ezvcard.property.Birthday
 import ezvcard.util.PartialDate
 import java.time.LocalDate
+import java.time.OffsetDateTime
+import java.time.format.DateTimeFormatter
 import java.time.format.DateTimeParseException
-import java.util.logging.Level
+import java.time.temporal.Temporal
 
-object EventHandler: DataRowHandler() {
+object EventHandler : DataRowHandler() {
+
+    // source: https://cs.android.com/android/platform/superproject/main/+/main:packages/apps/Contacts/src/com/android/contacts/util/CommonDateUtils.java;drc=61197364367c9e404c7da6900658f1b16c42d0da;l=25
+    private val acceptableFormats: List<Pair<DateTimeFormatter, (String, DateTimeFormatter) -> Temporal>> = listOf(
+        // Formats provided by Android's CommonDateUtils
+        DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSSXXX") to OffsetDateTime::parse,
+        DateTimeFormatter.ofPattern("yyyy-MM-dd") to LocalDate::parse,
+        // Additional common formats
+        DateTimeFormatter.ISO_OFFSET_DATE_TIME to OffsetDateTime::parse, // "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssXXX"
+    )
 
     override fun forMimeType() = Event.CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE
 
+    /**
+     * Tries to parse a date string into a [Temporal] object using multiple acceptable formats.
+     * Returns the parsed [Temporal] if successful, or `null` if none of the formats match.
+     * @param dateString The date string to parse.
+     * @return If format is:
+     * - `yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS'Z'` or `yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssXXX` -> [OffsetDateTime]
+     * - `yyyy-MM-dd` -> [LocalDate]
+     * - else -> `null`
+     */
+    @VisibleForTesting
+    internal fun parseStartDate(dateString: String): Temporal? {
+        for ((formatter, parse) in acceptableFormats) {
+            try {
+                return parse(dateString, formatter)
+            } catch (_: DateTimeParseException) {
+                // ignore: given date is not valid
+                continue
+            }
+        }
+
+        // could not parse date
+        return null
+    }
+
     override fun handle(values: ContentValues, contact: Contact) {
         super.handle(values, contact)
 
         val dateStr = values.getAsString(Event.START_DATE) ?: return
-        var full: LocalDate? = null
-        var partial: PartialDate? = null
-        try {
-            full = LocalDate.parse(dateStr)
-        } catch(e: DateTimeParseException) {
-            try {
-                partial = PartialDate.parse(dateStr)
-            } catch (e: IllegalArgumentException) {
-                logger.log(Level.WARNING, "Couldn't parse birthday/anniversary date from database", e)
-            }
+        val full: Temporal? = parseStartDate(dateStr)
+        val partial: PartialDate? = if (full == null) try {
+            PartialDate.parse(dateStr)
+        } catch (_: IllegalArgumentException) {
+            null
+        } else {
+            null
         }
 
         if (full != null || partial != null)
             when (values.getAsInteger(Event.TYPE)) {
                 Event.TYPE_ANNIVERSARY ->
-                    contact.anniversary = if (full != null) Anniversary(full) else Anniversary(partial)
+                    contact.anniversary =
+                        if (full != null) Anniversary(full) else Anniversary(partial)
+
                 Event.TYPE_BIRTHDAY ->
                     contact.birthDay = if (full != null) Birthday(full) else Birthday(partial)
                 /* Event.TYPE_OTHER,
diff --git a/lib/src/test/kotlin/at/bitfire/vcard4android/contactrow/EventHandlerTest.kt b/lib/src/test/kotlin/at/bitfire/vcard4android/contactrow/EventHandlerTest.kt
index fba3dfc7..be797e13 100644
--- a/lib/src/test/kotlin/at/bitfire/vcard4android/contactrow/EventHandlerTest.kt
+++ b/lib/src/test/kotlin/at/bitfire/vcard4android/contactrow/EventHandlerTest.kt
@@ -19,10 +19,28 @@ import org.junit.Test
 import org.junit.runner.RunWith
 import org.robolectric.RobolectricTestRunner
 import java.time.LocalDate
+import java.time.OffsetDateTime
+import java.time.ZoneOffset
 
 @RunWith(RobolectricTestRunner::class)
 class EventHandlerTest {
 
+    @Test
+    fun test_parseStartDate_ISO_UTC_DateTime() {
+        assertEquals(
+            OffsetDateTime.of(1953, 10,  15, 23, 10, 0, 0, ZoneOffset.UTC),
+            EventHandler.parseStartDate("1953-10-15T23:10:00Z")
+        )
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    fun test_parseStartDate_ISO_Date() {
+        assertEquals(
+            LocalDate.of(1953, 10,  15),
+            EventHandler.parseStartDate("1953-10-15")
+        )
+    }
+
     @Test
     fun testStartDate_Empty() {
         val contact = Contact()