diff --git a/yente/search/mapping.py b/yente/search/mapping.py
index 3cf71286..53307497 100644
--- a/yente/search/mapping.py
+++ b/yente/search/mapping.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 MappingProperty = Dict[str, Union[List[str], str]]
 
-DATE_FORMAT = "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH||yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm||yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss||yyyy-MM-dd||yyyy-MM||yyyy"
+DATE_FORMAT = "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH||yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm||yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss||yyyy-MM-dd||yyyy-MM||yyyy||strict_date_optional_time"
 TEXT_TYPES = (registry.name, registry.address)
 INDEX_SETTINGS = {
     "analysis": {