diff --git a/src/db.c b/src/db.c
index 8fbedf84..ae37ec92 100644
--- a/src/db.c
+++ b/src/db.c
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ static const struct col_type_map mfi_cols_map[] =
     { "song_length",        mfi_offsetof(song_length),        DB_TYPE_INT },
     { "file_size",          mfi_offsetof(file_size),          DB_TYPE_INT64 },
     { "year",               mfi_offsetof(year),               DB_TYPE_INT },
-    { "date_released",      mfi_offsetof(date_released),      DB_TYPE_INT },
+    { "date_released",      mfi_offsetof(date_released),      DB_TYPE_INT64 },
     { "track",              mfi_offsetof(track),              DB_TYPE_INT },
     { "total_tracks",       mfi_offsetof(total_tracks),       DB_TYPE_INT },
     { "disc",               mfi_offsetof(disc),               DB_TYPE_INT },
diff --git a/src/db.h b/src/db.h
index 75fb3941..70b0ca87 100644
--- a/src/db.h
+++ b/src/db.h
@@ -190,7 +190,7 @@ struct media_file_info {
   uint32_t song_length;
   int64_t file_size;
   uint32_t year;         /* TDRC */
-  uint32_t date_released;
+  int64_t date_released;  // bumped to (signed) int64 since all 32bits are unsigned
 
   uint32_t track;        /* TRCK */
   uint32_t total_tracks;
diff --git a/src/httpd_jsonapi.c b/src/httpd_jsonapi.c
index e6770c06..56cdb771 100644
--- a/src/httpd_jsonapi.c
+++ b/src/httpd_jsonapi.c
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ safe_json_add_time_from_string(json_object *obj, const char *key, const char *va
 static inline void
 safe_json_add_date_from_string(json_object *obj, const char *key, const char *value)
 {
-  uint32_t tmp;
+  int64_t tmp;
   time_t timestamp;
   struct tm tm;
   char result[32];
@@ -155,9 +155,9 @@ safe_json_add_date_from_string(json_object *obj, const char *key, const char *va
   if (!value)
     return;
 
-  if (safe_atou32(value, &tmp) != 0)
+  if (safe_atoi64(value, &tmp) != 0)
     {
-      DPRINTF(E_LOG, L_WEB, "Error converting timestamp to uint32_t: %s\n", value);
+      DPRINTF(E_LOG, L_WEB, "Error converting timestamp to int64_t: %s\n", value);
       return;
     }
 
diff --git a/src/library/filescanner_ffmpeg.c b/src/library/filescanner_ffmpeg.c
index e489885e..1f8577d1 100644
--- a/src/library/filescanner_ffmpeg.c
+++ b/src/library/filescanner_ffmpeg.c
@@ -98,7 +98,8 @@ parse_date(struct media_file_info *mfi, char *date_string)
 {
   char year_string[32];
   uint32_t *year = (uint32_t *) ((char *) mfi + mfi_offsetof(year));
-  uint32_t *date_released = (uint32_t *) ((char *) mfi + mfi_offsetof(date_released));
+  // signed in db.h to handle dates before 1970
+  int64_t *date_released = (int64_t *) ((char *) mfi + mfi_offsetof(date_released));
   struct tm tm = { 0 };
   int ret = 0;
 
@@ -111,7 +112,7 @@ parse_date(struct media_file_info *mfi, char *date_string)
        || strptime(date_string, "%F", &tm)
      )
     {
-      *date_released = (uint32_t)mktime(&tm);
+      *date_released = mktime(&tm);
       ret++;
     }
 
@@ -120,7 +121,7 @@ parse_date(struct media_file_info *mfi, char *date_string)
       snprintf(year_string, sizeof(year_string), "%" PRIu32 "-01-01T12:00:00", *year);
       if (strptime(year_string, "%FT%T", &tm))
 	{
-	  *date_released = (uint32_t)mktime(&tm);
+	  *date_released = mktime(&tm);
 	  ret++;
 	}
     }