diff --git a/src/app/core/json-patch/builder/json-patch-operations-builder.ts b/src/app/core/json-patch/builder/json-patch-operations-builder.ts
index ced3750834..d3896c4a6c 100644
--- a/src/app/core/json-patch/builder/json-patch-operations-builder.ts
+++ b/src/app/core/json-patch/builder/json-patch-operations-builder.ts
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ import {
 import { JsonPatchOperationPathObject } from './json-patch-operation-path-combiner';
 import { Injectable } from '@angular/core';
 import { hasNoValue, hasValue, isEmpty, isNotEmpty } from '../../../shared/empty.util';
-import { dateToISOFormat } from '../../../shared/date.util';
+import { dateToISOFormat, dateToString, isNgbDateStruct } from '../../../shared/date.util';
 import { VocabularyEntry } from '../../submission/vocabularies/models/vocabulary-entry.model';
 import { FormFieldMetadataValueObject } from '../../../shared/form/builder/models/form-field-metadata-value.model';
 import { FormFieldLanguageValueObject } from '../../../shared/form/builder/models/form-field-language-value.model';
@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ export class JsonPatchOperationsBuilder {
       operationValue = new FormFieldMetadataValueObject(value.value, value.language);
     } else if (value.hasOwnProperty('authority')) {
       operationValue = new FormFieldMetadataValueObject(value.value, value.language, value.authority);
+    } else if (isNgbDateStruct(value)) {
+      operationValue = new FormFieldMetadataValueObject(dateToString(value));
     } else if (value.hasOwnProperty('value')) {
       operationValue = new FormFieldMetadataValueObject(value.value);
     } else {
diff --git a/src/app/shared/date.util.ts b/src/app/shared/date.util.ts
index 063820784c..44afdd10a4 100644
--- a/src/app/shared/date.util.ts
+++ b/src/app/shared/date.util.ts
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import { NgbDateStruct } from '@ng-bootstrap/ng-bootstrap';
 import { isObject } from 'lodash';
 import * as moment from 'moment';
 
-import { isNull } from './empty.util';
+import { isNull, isUndefined } from './empty.util';
 
 /**
  * Returns true if the passed value is a NgbDateStruct.
@@ -27,8 +27,9 @@ export function isNgbDateStruct(value: object): boolean {
  * @return string
  *    the formatted date
  */
-export function dateToISOFormat(date: Date | NgbDateStruct): string {
-  const dateObj: Date = (date instanceof Date) ? date : ngbDateStructToDate(date);
+export function dateToISOFormat(date: Date | NgbDateStruct | string): string {
+  const dateObj: Date = (date instanceof Date) ? date :
+    ((typeof date === 'string') ? ngbDateStructToDate(stringToNgbDateStruct(date)) : ngbDateStructToDate(date));
 
   let year = dateObj.getFullYear().toString();
   let month = (dateObj.getMonth() + 1).toString();
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ export function stringToNgbDateStruct(date: string): NgbDateStruct {
  *    the NgbDateStruct object
  */
 export function dateToNgbDateStruct(date?: Date): NgbDateStruct {
-  if (isNull(date)) {
+  if (isNull(date) || isUndefined(date)) {
     date = new Date();
   }