diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Definitions/Cardigann/CardigannParser.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Definitions/Cardigann/CardigannParser.cs
index 9be1f9485..91374487f 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Definitions/Cardigann/CardigannParser.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Indexers/Definitions/Cardigann/CardigannParser.cs
@@ -509,7 +509,7 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.Indexers.Cardigann
                     value = release.Seeders.ToString();
                     break;
                 case "date":
-                    release.PublishDate = DateTime.TryParseExact(value, DateTimeUtil.Rfc1123ZPattern, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out var parsedDate) ? parsedDate : DateTimeUtil.FromUnknown(value);
+                    release.PublishDate = DateTimeUtil.FromUnknown(value);
                     value = release.PublishDate.ToString(DateTimeUtil.Rfc1123ZPattern, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture);
                     break;
                 case "files":
diff --git a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Parser/DateTimeUtil.cs b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Parser/DateTimeUtil.cs
index f2bcfd312..a69cbcd24 100644
--- a/src/NzbDrone.Core/Parser/DateTimeUtil.cs
+++ b/src/NzbDrone.Core/Parser/DateTimeUtil.cs
@@ -123,6 +123,11 @@ namespace NzbDrone.Core.Parser
             {
                 str = str.Trim();
 
+                if (DateTime.TryParseExact(str, Rfc1123ZPattern, CultureInfo.InvariantCulture, DateTimeStyles.None, out var parsedDate))
+                {
+                    return parsedDate;
+                }
+
                 // try parsing the str as an unix timestamp
                 if (str.IsAllDigits() && long.TryParse(str, out var unixTimeStamp))
                 {