diff --git a/parse.go b/parse.go
index 906b4bd..c1ad136 100644
--- a/parse.go
+++ b/parse.go
@@ -1,28 +1,32 @@
 package timeutils
 
 // #include "approxidate.h"
+// #include <stdlib.h>
 // #cgo LDFLAGS: -lm
 import "C"
-import "time"
-import "fmt"
 
-// Takes a string and passes it through Approxidate
+import (
+	"fmt"
+	"time"
+	"unsafe"
+)
+
+// ParseDateString takes a string and passes it through Approxidate
 // Parses into a time.Time
-func ParseDateString(dt string) (t time.Time, err error) {
+func ParseDateString(dt string) (time.Time, error) {
 	date := C.struct_timeval{}
 
-	ok := C.approxidate(C.CString(dt), &date)
+	cStr := C.CString(dt)
+	ok := C.approxidate(cStr, &date)
+	C.free(unsafe.Pointer(cStr))
 	if int(ok) != 0 {
-		err = fmt.Errorf("Invlid Date Format %s", dt)
-		return
+		return time.Time{}, fmt.Errorf("Invlid Date Format %s", dt)
 	}
 
-	t = time.Unix(int64(date.tv_sec), int64(date.tv_usec)*1000)
-	return
+	return time.Unix(int64(date.tv_sec), int64(date.tv_usec)*1000), nil
 }
 
-// Parses a milliseconds-since-epoch time stamp to a time.Time
-func ParseMillis(dt int64) (t time.Time, err error) {
-	t = time.Unix(0, dt*1000*1000)
-	return
+// ParseMillis parses a milliseconds-since-epoch time stamp to a time.Time
+func ParseMillis(dt int64) (time.Time, error) {
+	return time.Unix(0, dt*1000*1000), nil
 }
diff --git a/parse_test.go b/parse_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..dd26a7f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/parse_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+package timeutils
+
+import (
+	"os"
+	"testing"
+)
+
+var testData = []struct{ in, out string }{
+	{"2014-12-05 09:51:20.939152 -0500", "2014-12-05 14:51:20.939152 +0000 UTC"},
+	{"2014-12-05 09:51:20.939152 -0500 EST", "2014-12-05 14:51:20.939152 +0000 UTC"},
+	{"2014-12-05 09:51:20.939152", "2014-12-05 09:51:20.939152 +0000 UTC"},
+	{"2014/12/05 09:51:20.939152", "2014-12-05 09:51:20.939152 +0000 UTC"},
+	{"2014.12.05 09:51:20.939152", "2014-12-05 09:51:20.939152 +0000 UTC"},
+	{"09:51:20.939152 2014-31-12", "2014-12-31 09:51:20.939152 +0000 UTC"},
+	{"09:51:20.939152am 2014-31-12", "2014-12-31 09:51:20.939152 +0000 UTC"},
+	{"09:51:20.939152pm 2014-31-12", "2014-12-31 21:51:20.939152 +0000 UTC"},
+}
+
+func TestParseDateString(t *testing.T) {
+	defer os.Setenv("TZ", os.Getenv("TZ"))
+	os.Setenv("TZ", "UTC")
+
+	for i, elem := range testData {
+		if tt, err := ParseDateString(elem.in); err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+		} else if elem.out != tt.String() {
+			t.Errorf("[%d] Unexpected parsed time.\nExpect:\t%s\nGot:\t%s\n", i, elem.out, tt)
+		}
+	}
+}