diff --git a/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py b/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py
@@ -47,6 +47,17 @@ class XMLRPCTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         (newdt,), m = xmlrpclib.loads(s, use_datetime=0)
         self.assertEquals(newdt, xmlrpclib.DateTime('20050210T11:41:23'))
 
+    def test_datetime_before_1900(self):
+        # same as before but with an date before 1900
+        dt = datetime.datetime(1, 02, 10, 11, 41, 23)
+        s = xmlrpclib.dumps((dt,))
+        (newdt,), m = xmlrpclib.loads(s, use_datetime=1)
+        self.assertEquals(newdt, dt)
+        self.assertEquals(m, None)
+
+        (newdt,), m = xmlrpclib.loads(s, use_datetime=0)
+        self.assertEquals(newdt, xmlrpclib.DateTime('00010210T11:41:23'))
+
     def test_dump_bare_date(self):
         # This checks that an unwrapped datetime.date object can be handled
         # by the marshalling code.  This can't be done via test_dump_load()
@@ -60,6 +71,18 @@ class XMLRPCTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
         (newdt,), m = xmlrpclib.loads(s, use_datetime=0)
         self.assertEquals(newdt, xmlrpclib.DateTime('20050210T00:00:00'))
+
+    def test_date_before_1900(self):
+        # same as before but with an date before 1900
+        d = datetime.datetime(1, 02, 10, 11, 41, 23).date()
+        s = xmlrpclib.dumps((d,))
+        (newd,), m = xmlrpclib.loads(s, use_datetime=1)
+        self.assertEquals(newd.date(), d)
+        self.assertEquals(newd.time(), datetime.time(0, 0, 0))
+        self.assertEquals(m, None)
+
+        (newdt,), m = xmlrpclib.loads(s, use_datetime=0)
+        self.assertEquals(newdt, xmlrpclib.DateTime('00010210T00:00:00'))
 
     def test_dump_bare_time(self):
         # This checks that an unwrapped datetime.time object can be handled
diff --git a/Lib/xmlrpclib.py b/Lib/xmlrpclib.py
--- a/Lib/xmlrpclib.py
+++ b/Lib/xmlrpclib.py
@@ -346,6 +346,26 @@ else:
 # @param value The time, given as an ISO 8601 string, a time
 #              tuple, or a integer time value.
 
+def _strftime(value):
+    if datetime:
+        if isinstance(value, datetime.datetime):
+            return "%04d%02d%02dT%02d:%02d:%02d" % (value.year, value.month, value.day,
+                                                    value.hour, value.minute, value.second)
+        if isinstance(value, datetime.date):
+            return "%04d%02d%02dT00:00:00" % (value.year, value.month, value.day)
+        
+        if isinstance(value, datetime.time):
+            now = datetime.datetime.now()
+            return "%04d%02d%02dT%02d:%02d:%02d" % (now.year, now.month, now.day,
+                                                    value.hour, value.minute, value.second)
+
+    if not isinstance(value, (TupleType, time.struct_time)):
+        if value == 0:
+            value = time.time()
+        value = time.localtime(value)
+
+    return "%04d%02d%02dT%02d:%02d:%02d" % value[:6]
+    
 class DateTime:
     """DateTime wrapper for an ISO 8601 string or time tuple or
     localtime integer value to generate 'dateTime.iso8601' XML-RPC
@@ -353,23 +373,10 @@ class DateTime:
     """
 
     def __init__(self, value=0):
-        if not isinstance(value, StringType):
-            if datetime and isinstance(value, datetime.datetime):
-                self.value = value.strftime("%Y%m%dT%H:%M:%S")
-                return
-            if datetime and isinstance(value, datetime.date):
-                self.value = value.strftime("%Y%m%dT%H:%M:%S")
-                return
-            if datetime and isinstance(value, datetime.time):
-                today = datetime.datetime.now().strftime("%Y%m%d")
-                self.value = value.strftime(today+"T%H:%M:%S")
-                return
-            if not isinstance(value, (TupleType, time.struct_time)):
-                if value == 0:
-                    value = time.time()
-                value = time.localtime(value)
-            value = time.strftime("%Y%m%dT%H:%M:%S", value)
-        self.value = value
+        if isinstance(value, StringType):
+            self.value = value
+        else:
+            self.value = _strftime(value)
 
     def __cmp__(self, other):
         if isinstance(other, DateTime):
@@ -722,22 +729,11 @@ class Marshaller:
     if datetime:
         def dump_datetime(self, value, write):
             write("<value><dateTime.iso8601>")
-            write(value.strftime("%Y%m%dT%H:%M:%S"))
+            write(_strftime(value))
             write("</dateTime.iso8601></value>\n")
         dispatch[datetime.datetime] = dump_datetime
-
-        def dump_date(self, value, write):
-            write("<value><dateTime.iso8601>")
-            write(value.strftime("%Y%m%dT00:00:00"))
-            write("</dateTime.iso8601></value>\n")
-        dispatch[datetime.date] = dump_date
-
-        def dump_time(self, value, write):
-            write("<value><dateTime.iso8601>")
-            write(datetime.datetime.now().date().strftime("%Y%m%dT"))
-            write(value.strftime("%H:%M:%S"))
-            write("</dateTime.iso8601></value>\n")
-        dispatch[datetime.time] = dump_time
+        dispatch[datetime.date] = dump_datetime
+        dispatch[datetime.time] = dump_datetime
 
     def dump_instance(self, value, write):
         # check for special wrappers