diff --git a/src/Context.cpp b/src/Context.cpp
index 9d7028e28..215ae44ff 100644
--- a/src/Context.cpp
+++ b/src/Context.cpp
@@ -195,14 +195,10 @@ int Context::initialize (int argc, const char** argv)
     parser.findIdSequence ();                       // <id>
     parser.injectDefaults ();                       // rc.default.command
 
-    // Static initialization to decouple code.
-    staticInitialization ();
+    staticInitialization ();                        // Decouple code from Context.
+    parser.parse ();                                // Parse all elements.
 
-    // Parse the command line.
-    parser.parse ();
-
-    // Initialize the database.
-    tdb2.set_location (data_dir);
+    tdb2.set_location (data_dir);                   // Prepare the task database.
 
     // First opportunity to run a hook script.
     hooks.initialize ();
diff --git a/src/Task.cpp b/src/Task.cpp
index cb56937c8..14475ea77 100644
--- a/src/Task.cpp
+++ b/src/Task.cpp
@@ -2038,6 +2038,7 @@ void Task::modify (modType type, bool text_required /* = false */)
             }
             else
             {
+              v.cast (Variant::type_date);
               context.debug (label + name + " <-- " + format ("{1}", v.get_date ()) + " <-- " + (std::string) v + " <-- " + value);
             }