diff --git a/fail2ban/server/iso8601.py b/fail2ban/server/iso8601.py
index a53557fb..a28ce13b 100644
--- a/fail2ban/server/iso8601.py
+++ b/fail2ban/server/iso8601.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ __all__ = ["parse_date", "ParseError"]
 # Adapted from http://delete.me.uk/2005/03/iso8601.html
 ISO8601_REGEX_RAW = "(?P<year>[0-9]{4})-(?P<month>[0-9]{1,2})-(?P<day>[0-9]{1,2})" \
     "T(?P<hour>[0-9]{2}):(?P<minute>[0-9]{2})(:(?P<second>[0-9]{2})(\.(?P<fraction>[0-9]+))?)?" \
-    "(?P<timezone>Z|(([-+])([0-9]{2}):([0-9]{2})))?"
+    "(?P<timezone>Z|[-+][0-9]{2}(:?[0-9]{2})?)?"
 ISO8601_REGEX = re.compile(ISO8601_REGEX_RAW)
 TIMEZONE_REGEX = re.compile("(?P<prefix>[+-])(?P<hours>[0-9]{2}):?(?P<minutes>[0-9]{2})?")
 
diff --git a/fail2ban/tests/misctestcase.py b/fail2ban/tests/misctestcase.py
index 5b33f78c..7c6e3283 100644
--- a/fail2ban/tests/misctestcase.py
+++ b/fail2ban/tests/misctestcase.py
@@ -172,6 +172,7 @@ class TestsUtilsTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
 from fail2ban.server import iso8601
 import datetime
+import time
 
 class CustomDateFormatsTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
@@ -190,8 +191,25 @@ class CustomDateFormatsTest(unittest.TestCase):
 						  iso8601.parse_date, "2007-01-01T120:00:00Z")
 		self.assertRaises(iso8601.ParseError,
 						  iso8601.parse_date, "2007-13-01T12:00:00Z")
+		date = iso8601.parse_date("2007-01-25T12:00:00+0400")
+		self.assertEqual(
+			date,
+			datetime.datetime(2007, 1, 25, 8, 0, tzinfo=iso8601.Utc()))
+		date = iso8601.parse_date("2007-01-25T12:00:00+04:00")
+		self.assertEqual(
+			date,
+			datetime.datetime(2007, 1, 25, 8, 0, tzinfo=iso8601.Utc()))
+		date = iso8601.parse_date("2007-01-25T12:00:00-0400")
+		self.assertEqual(
+			date,
+			datetime.datetime(2007, 1, 25, 16, 0, tzinfo=iso8601.Utc()))
+		date = iso8601.parse_date("2007-01-25T12:00:00-04")
+		self.assertEqual(
+			date,
+			datetime.datetime(2007, 1, 25, 16, 0, tzinfo=iso8601.Utc()))
 
 	def testTimeZone(self):
 		# Just verify consistent operation and improve coverage ;)
-		self.assertEqual(iso8601.parse_timezone(None), iso8601.UTC)
-		self.assertEqual(iso8601.parse_timezone('Z'),  iso8601.UTC)
+		self.assertEqual((iso8601.parse_timezone(None).tzname(False), iso8601.parse_timezone(None).tzname(True)), time.tzname)
+		self.assertEqual(iso8601.parse_timezone('Z').tzname(True), "UTC")
+		self.assertEqual(iso8601.parse_timezone('Z').dst(True), datetime.timedelta(0))
diff --git a/fail2ban/tests/utils.py b/fail2ban/tests/utils.py
index e719750a..290177a4 100644
--- a/fail2ban/tests/utils.py
+++ b/fail2ban/tests/utils.py
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ def gatherTests(regexps=None, no_network=False):
 	tests.addTest(unittest.makeSuite(misctestcase.HelpersTest))
 	tests.addTest(unittest.makeSuite(misctestcase.SetupTest))
 	tests.addTest(unittest.makeSuite(misctestcase.TestsUtilsTest))
+	tests.addTest(unittest.makeSuite(misctestcase.CustomDateFormatsTest))
 
 	# Filter
 	if not no_network: