diff --git a/mercurial/shelve.py b/mercurial/shelve.py
--- a/mercurial/shelve.py
+++ b/mercurial/shelve.py
@@ -828,7 +828,7 @@
     snode = repo.commit(text=shelvectx.description(),
                         extra=shelvectx.extra(),
                         user=shelvectx.user(),
-                        date=shelvectx.date())
+                        date=dateutil.makedate())
     m = scmutil.matchfiles(repo, repo[snode].files())
     if snode:
         _shelvecreatedcommit(repo, snode, basename, m)