diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 21cd1d3490..4d274dac01 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,12 @@
+2001-05-30  Dave Peticolas  <dave@krondo.com>
+
+	* src/engine/sixtp-utils.c (timespec_secs_to_given_string): use
+	gnc_timezone
+
+	* src/engine/date.c (gnc_timezone): new func
+	(gnc_iso8601_to_timespec): use gnc_timezone
+	(gnc_timespec_to_iso8601_buff): use gnc_timezone
+
 2001-05-29  Dave Peticolas  <dave@krondo.com>
 
 	* configure.in: call new macro below
diff --git a/src/engine/date.c b/src/engine/date.c
index c14e4606f3..2293236f77 100644
--- a/src/engine/date.c
+++ b/src/engine/date.c
@@ -469,7 +469,6 @@ gnc_iso8601_to_timespec(const char *str, int do_localtime)
   }
   stm.tm_isdst = -1;
 
-
   /* timezone format can be +hh or +hhmm or +hh.mm (or -) */
   str += strcspn (str, "+-");
   buf[0] = str[0];
@@ -495,11 +494,13 @@ gnc_iso8601_to_timespec(const char *str, int do_localtime)
   /* adjust for the local timezone */
   if (do_localtime)
   {
+    struct tm *tm;
     time_t tz_hour = 0;
-    localtime (&tz_hour);   /* bogus call, forces 'timezone' to be set */
-    tz_hour = timezone/3600;
+
+    tm = localtime (&tz_hour);   /* bogus call, forces 'timezone' to be set */
+    tz_hour = gnc_timezone(tm)/3600;
     stm.tm_hour -= tz_hour;
-    stm.tm_min -= (timezone - 3600*tz_hour)/60;
+    stm.tm_min -= (gnc_timezone(tm) - 3600*tz_hour)/60;
   }
 
   /* compute number of seconds */
@@ -536,8 +537,8 @@ gnc_timespec_to_iso8601_buff (Timespec ts, char * buff)
   tmp = ts.tv_sec;
   localtime_r(&tmp, &parsed);
 
-  tz_hour = timezone/3600;
-  tz_min = (timezone - 3600*tz_hour)/60;
+  tz_hour = gnc_timezone (&parsed) / 3600;
+  tz_min = (gnc_timezone (&parsed) - 3600*tz_hour) / 60;
   if (0>tz_min) { tz_min +=60; tz_hour --; }
 
   /* we also have to print the sign by hand, to work around a bug
@@ -663,5 +664,25 @@ gnc_dmy2timespec_end (int day, int month, int year)
   return gnc_dmy2timespec_internal (day, month, year, FALSE);
 }
 
+/********************************************************************\
+\********************************************************************/
+
+long int
+gnc_timezone (struct tm *tm)
+{
+  g_return_val_if_fail (tm != NULL, 0);
+
+#ifdef HAVE_STRUCT_TM_GMTOFF
+  /* tm_gmtoff is seconds *east* of UTC and is
+   * already adjusted for daylight savings time. */
+  return -(tm->tm_gmtoff);
+#else
+  /* timezone is seconds *west* of UTC and is
+   * not adjusted for daylight savings time.
+   * In Spring, we spring forward, wheee! */
+  return timezone - (tm->tm_isdst > 0 ? 60 * 60 : 0);
+#endif
+}
+
 /********************** END OF FILE *********************************\
 \********************************************************************/
diff --git a/src/engine/date.h b/src/engine/date.h
index 68101827db..24a7e57078 100644
--- a/src/engine/date.h
+++ b/src/engine/date.h
@@ -182,4 +182,18 @@ Timespec gnc_iso8601_to_timespec_local(const char *);
 Timespec gnc_iso8601_to_timespec_gmt(const char *);
 char * gnc_timespec_to_iso8601_buff (Timespec ts, char * buff);
 
+/* The gnc_timezone function returns the number of seconds *west*
+ * of UTC represented by the tm argument, adjusted for daylight
+ * savings time.
+ *
+ * This function requires a tm argument returned by localtime or set
+ * by mktime. This is a strange function! It requires that localtime
+ * or mktime be called before use. Subsequent calls to localtime or
+ * mktime *may* invalidate the result! The actual contents of tm *may*
+ * be used for both timezone offset and daylight savings time, or only
+ * daylight savings time! Timezone stuff under unix is not
+ * standardized and is a big mess.
+ */
+long int gnc_timezone (struct tm *tm);
+
 #endif /* __XACC_DATE_H__ */
diff --git a/src/engine/sixtp-utils.c b/src/engine/sixtp-utils.c
index 1504ab9f00..52197f5060 100644
--- a/src/engine/sixtp-utils.c
+++ b/src/engine/sixtp-utils.c
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include "sixtp.h"
 #include "sixtp-utils.h"
 
+#include "date.h"
 #include "guid.h"
 #include "gnc-numeric.h"
 
@@ -463,6 +464,7 @@ timespec_secs_to_given_string (const Timespec *ts, gchar *str)
   struct tm parsed_time;
   size_t num_chars;
   time_t tmp_time;
+  long int tz;
   int minutes;
   int hours;
   int sign;
@@ -482,24 +484,15 @@ timespec_secs_to_given_string (const Timespec *ts, gchar *str)
 
   str += num_chars;
 
-  /* timezone is reversed */
-  sign = (timezone > 0) ? -1 : 1;
+  tz = gnc_timezone (&parsed_time);
 
-  minutes = ABS (timezone) / 60;
+  /* gnc_timezone is seconds west of UTC */
+  sign = (tz > 0) ? -1 : 1;
+
+  minutes = ABS (tz) / 60;
   hours = minutes / 60;
   minutes -= hours * 60;
 
-  if (parsed_time.tm_isdst > 0)
-    hours += sign;
-
-  /* check for rollover */
-  if (hours == -1)
-  {
-    hours = 0;
-    minutes = 60 - minutes;
-    sign *= -1;
-  }
-
   g_snprintf (str, TIMESPEC_SEC_FORMAT_MAX - num_chars,
               " %c%02d%02d", (sign > 0) ? '+' : '-', hours, minutes);