diff --git a/inc/inc.Utils.php b/inc/inc.Utils.php
index 6d31dda82..8b4da3eb0 100644
--- a/inc/inc.Utils.php
+++ b/inc/inc.Utils.php
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ function getPeriodOfTime($timestamp) { /* {{{ */
  * @return integer/boolean unix timestamp or false in case of an error
  */
 function makeTsFromDate($date) { /* {{{ */
-	return strtotime($date);
+	return $date ? strtotime($date) : false;
 } /* }}} */
 
 /*