diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 4ee1c21179..a244001dc7 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 2001-03-12  Dave Peticolas  <dave@krondo.com>
 
+	* src/engine/io-gncxml-r.c (gnc_book_load_from_xml_file): use
+	TZ=UTC while parsing xml.
+
+	* src/engine/sixtp-utils.c: adjust for timezone offset manually
+
 	* src/scm/html-table.scm ((gnc:make-html-table-header-cell/markup
 	markup . objects)): new func
 
diff --git a/src/engine/io-gncxml-r.c b/src/engine/io-gncxml-r.c
index 4e394a2762..1d0ed7a410 100644
--- a/src/engine/io-gncxml-r.c
+++ b/src/engine/io-gncxml-r.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 
 #include "config.h"
 
+#include <stdlib.h>
 #include <string.h>
 
 #include <glib.h>
@@ -295,6 +296,8 @@ gnc_book_load_from_xml_file(GNCBook *book)
   sixtp *top_level_pr;
   GNCParseStatus global_parse_status;
   const gchar *filename;
+  char *put_str;
+  char *old_tz;
 
   g_return_val_if_fail(book, FALSE);
 
@@ -304,12 +307,20 @@ gnc_book_load_from_xml_file(GNCBook *book)
   top_level_pr = gncxml_setup_for_read (&global_parse_status);
   g_return_val_if_fail(top_level_pr, FALSE);
 
+  old_tz = g_strdup (getenv ("TZ"));
+  putenv ("TZ=UTC");
+
   parse_ok = sixtp_parse_file(top_level_pr,
                               filename,
                               NULL,
                               &global_parse_status,
                               &parse_result);
-  
+
+  put_str = g_strdup_printf ("TZ=%s", old_tz ? old_tz : "");
+  putenv (put_str);
+  g_free (put_str);
+  g_free (old_tz);
+
   sixtp_destroy(top_level_pr);
 
   if(parse_ok) {
diff --git a/src/engine/sixtp-utils.c b/src/engine/sixtp-utils.c
index e9bcc4629d..05f6dc6495 100644
--- a/src/engine/sixtp-utils.c
+++ b/src/engine/sixtp-utils.c
@@ -364,6 +364,7 @@ string_to_timespec_secs(const gchar *str, Timespec *ts) {
   struct tm parsed_time;
   const gchar *strpos;
   time_t parsed_secs;
+  long int gmtoff;
 
   memset(&parsed_time, 0, sizeof(struct tm));
 
@@ -396,16 +397,19 @@ string_to_timespec_secs(const gchar *str, Timespec *ts) {
     if((sign != '+') && (sign != '-')) return(FALSE);
     if(!isspace_str(strpos + num_read, -1)) return(FALSE);
 
-    parsed_time.tm_gmtoff = (h1 * 10 + h2) * 60 * 60;
-    parsed_time.tm_gmtoff += (m1 * 10 + m2) * 60;
-    if(sign == '-') parsed_time.tm_gmtoff = - parsed_time.tm_gmtoff;
+    gmtoff = (h1 * 10 + h2) * 60 * 60;
+    gmtoff += (m1 * 10 + m2) * 60;
+    if(sign == '-') gmtoff = - gmtoff;
+
     parsed_time.tm_isdst = -1;
   }
 
   parsed_secs = mktime(&parsed_time);
-  
+
   if(parsed_secs == (time_t) -1) return(FALSE);
-  
+
+  parsed_secs -= gmtoff;
+
   ts->tv_sec = parsed_secs;
 
   return(TRUE);