diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 8c4283130..ce0bd42f2 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -244,6 +244,8 @@
  + Fixed bug #862, which suppressed feedback from the 'denotate' command.
  + Fixed bug #863, which suppressed report labels with rc.verbose=off (thanks to
    Michelle Crane).
+ + Fixed bugs #865 and #886, which caused silent failure of unrecognized dates
+   (thanks to Michelle Crane).
  + Fixed bug #879, which mis-parsed escaped characters in the data file (thanks
    to Michelle Crane).
  + Fixed bug #880, which listed the wrong file paths for themes (thanks to Peter
diff --git a/src/E9.cpp b/src/E9.cpp
index 41c544b26..3a9e42dad 100644
--- a/src/E9.cpp
+++ b/src/E9.cpp
@@ -168,25 +168,26 @@ void E9::eval (const Task& task, std::vector <Arg>& value_stack)
 
       if (operand._category == Arg::cat_dom && _dom)
       {
+        operand._category = Arg::cat_literal;
         operand._value    = context.dom.get (operand._raw, task);
-        operand._category = Arg::cat_literal;
       }
-      else if (operand._type     == Arg::type_date &&
-               operand._category == Arg::cat_literal)
+      else if (operand._type == Arg::type_date)
       {
-        operand._value    = Date (operand._raw, _dateformat).toEpochString ();
         operand._category = Arg::cat_literal;
+        operand._value    = (operand._raw != "")
+                            ? Date (operand._raw, _dateformat).toEpochString ()
+                            : "";
       }
-      else if (operand._type     == Arg::type_duration &&
-               operand._category == Arg::cat_literal)
+      else if (operand._type == Arg::type_duration)
       {
-        operand._value    = (std::string)Duration (operand._raw);
         operand._category = Arg::cat_literal;
+        operand._value    = (operand._raw != "")
+                            ? (std::string)Duration (operand._raw)
+                            : "";
       }
       else
         operand._value = operand._raw;
 
-      // std::cout << "# E9::eval operand " << operand << "\n";
       value_stack.push_back (operand);
     }
   }
diff --git a/test/bug.886.t b/test/bug.886.t
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..35a114e27
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/bug.886.t
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+#! /usr/bin/perl
+################################################################################
+## taskwarrior - a command line task list manager.
+##
+## Copyright 2006-2012, Paul Beckingham, Federico Hernandez.
+##
+## Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
+## of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
+## in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
+## to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
+## copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
+## furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:
+##
+## The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included
+## in all copies or substantial portions of the Software.
+##
+## THE SOFTWARE IS PROVIDED "AS IS", WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS
+## OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
+## FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL
+## THE AUTHORS OR COPYRIGHT HOLDERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER
+## LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM,
+## OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE
+## SOFTWARE.
+##
+## http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php
+##
+################################################################################
+
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+use Test::More tests => 4;
+
+# Create the rc file.
+if (open my $fh, '>', 'bug.rc')
+{
+  print $fh "data.location=.\n";
+  close $fh;
+  ok (-r 'bug.rc', 'Created bug.rc');
+}
+
+# Bug 886: tw doesn't warn the user if, e.g., a weekday cannot be resolved properly
+my $output = qx{../src/task rc:bug.rc add one due:sund};
+like ($output, qr/Created task 1\./, 'sund --> valid date');
+
+$output = qx{../src/task rc:bug.rc add two due:donkey};
+like ($output, qr/was not recognized\./, 'donkey --> invalid date');
+
+# Cleanup.
+unlink qw(pending.data completed.data undo.data backlog.data synch.key bug.rc);
+ok (! -r 'pending.data'   &&
+    ! -r 'completed.data' &&
+    ! -r 'undo.data'      &&
+    ! -r 'backlog.data'   &&
+    ! -r 'synch.key'      &&
+    ! -r 'bug.rc', 'Cleanup');
+
+exit 0;
+