diff --git a/ext/pg_binary_decoder.c b/ext/pg_binary_decoder.c
index 6b6c06e30..18f07d08d 100644
--- a/ext/pg_binary_decoder.c
+++ b/ext/pg_binary_decoder.c
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 
 VALUE rb_mPG_BinaryDecoder;
 static VALUE s_Date;
+static VALUE s_Date_GREGORIAN; /* Date::GREGORIAN */
 static ID s_id_new;
 
 
@@ -403,7 +404,7 @@ pg_bin_dec_date(t_pg_coder *conv, const char *val, int len, int tuple, int field
 		default:
 			j2date(date + POSTGRES_EPOCH_JDATE, &year, &month, &day);
 
-			return rb_funcall(s_Date, s_id_new, 3, INT2NUM(year), INT2NUM(month), INT2NUM(day));
+			return rb_funcall(s_Date, s_id_new, 4, INT2NUM(year), INT2NUM(month), INT2NUM(day), s_Date_GREGORIAN);
 	}
 }
 
@@ -412,8 +413,10 @@ static VALUE
 init_pg_bin_decoder_date(VALUE rb_mPG_BinaryDecoder)
 {
 	rb_require("date");
+	rb_gc_register_address(&s_Date);
+	rb_gc_register_address(&s_Date_GREGORIAN);
 	s_Date = rb_const_get(rb_cObject, rb_intern("Date"));
-	rb_gc_register_mark_object(s_Date);
+	s_Date_GREGORIAN = rb_const_get(s_Date, rb_intern("GREGORIAN"));
 	s_id_new = rb_intern("new");
 
 	/* dummy = rb_define_class_under( rb_mPG_BinaryDecoder, "Date", rb_cPG_SimpleDecoder ); */
diff --git a/ext/pg_binary_encoder.c b/ext/pg_binary_encoder.c
index 9417fe8b3..df8ba854b 100644
--- a/ext/pg_binary_encoder.c
+++ b/ext/pg_binary_encoder.c
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 #endif
 
 VALUE rb_mPG_BinaryEncoder;
+static ID s_id_gregorianP;
+static ID s_id_gregorian;
 static ID s_id_year;
 static ID s_id_month;
 static ID s_id_day;
@@ -272,6 +274,9 @@ pg_bin_enc_date(t_pg_coder *this, VALUE value, char *out, VALUE *intermediate, i
 				write_nbo32(PG_INT32_MIN, out);
 				return 4;
 		} {
+			/* Only create a new gregorian Date object if necessary */
+			if( rb_funcall(value, s_id_gregorianP, 0) != Qtrue )
+				value = rb_funcall(value, s_id_gregorian, 0);
 			VALUE year = rb_funcall(value, s_id_year, 0);
 			VALUE month = rb_funcall(value, s_id_month, 0);
 			VALUE day = rb_funcall(value, s_id_day, 0);
@@ -554,6 +559,8 @@ pg_bin_enc_from_base64(t_pg_coder *conv, VALUE value, char *out, VALUE *intermed
 void
 init_pg_binary_encoder(void)
 {
+	s_id_gregorianP = rb_intern("gregorian?");
+	s_id_gregorian = rb_intern("gregorian");
 	s_id_year = rb_intern("year");
 	s_id_month = rb_intern("month");
 	s_id_day = rb_intern("day");
diff --git a/lib/pg/basic_type_map_for_queries.rb b/lib/pg/basic_type_map_for_queries.rb
index 3b0d492d9..d7e9fc326 100644
--- a/lib/pg/basic_type_map_for_queries.rb
+++ b/lib/pg/basic_type_map_for_queries.rb
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ def get_array_type(value)
 		Integer => [0, 'int8'],
 		Float => [0, 'float8'],
 		Time => [0, 'timestamptz'],
+		Date => [0, 'date'],
 		# We use text format and no type OID for IPAddr, because setting the OID can lead
 		# to unnecessary inet/cidr conversions on the server side.
 		IPAddr => [0, 'inet'],
@@ -200,6 +201,7 @@ def get_array_type(value)
 		String => [0, '_text'],
 		Float => [0, '_float8'],
 		Time => [0, '_timestamptz'],
+		Date => [0, '_date'],
 		IPAddr => [0, '_inet'],
 	}.merge(has_bigdecimal ? {BigDecimal => [0, '_numeric']} : {}))
 	private_constant :DEFAULT_ARRAY_TYPE_MAP
diff --git a/lib/pg/text_decoder/date.rb b/lib/pg/text_decoder/date.rb
index 75d0b6100..6fc4cf4a0 100644
--- a/lib/pg/text_decoder/date.rb
+++ b/lib/pg/text_decoder/date.rb
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ module TextDecoder
 		class Date < SimpleDecoder
 			def decode(string, tuple=nil, field=nil)
 				if string =~ /\A(\d{4})-(\d\d)-(\d\d)\z/
-					::Date.new $1.to_i, $2.to_i, $3.to_i
+					::Date.new $1.to_i, $2.to_i, $3.to_i, ::Date::GREGORIAN
 				else
 					string
 				end
diff --git a/lib/pg/text_encoder/date.rb b/lib/pg/text_encoder/date.rb
index fa8b0d62c..a2f827560 100644
--- a/lib/pg/text_encoder/date.rb
+++ b/lib/pg/text_encoder/date.rb
@@ -6,7 +6,13 @@ module TextEncoder
 		# This is a encoder class for conversion of Ruby Date values to PostgreSQL date type.
 		class Date < SimpleEncoder
 			def encode(value)
-				value.respond_to?(:strftime) ? value.strftime("%Y-%m-%d") : value
+				if value.respond_to?(:gregorian?)
+					# Only create a new gregorian Date object if necessary
+					value = value.gregorian unless value.gregorian?
+					value.strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
+				else
+					value
+				end
 			end
 		end
 	end
diff --git a/spec/pg/basic_type_map_based_on_result_spec.rb b/spec/pg/basic_type_map_based_on_result_spec.rb
index 0d0666f24..6e10554b9 100644
--- a/spec/pg/basic_type_map_based_on_result_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/pg/basic_type_map_based_on_result_spec.rb
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@
 
 			[1, 0].each do |format|
 				it "can type cast #copy_data input with encoder to format #{format}" do
-					@conn.exec( "CREATE TEMP TABLE copytable (b bytea, i INT, ts1 timestamp, ts2 timestamp, f4 float4, f8 float8, d1 date, d2 date)" )
+					@conn.exec( "CREATE TEMP TABLE copytable (b bytea, i INT, ts1 timestamp, ts2 timestamp, f4 float4, f8 float8, d1 date, d2 date, d3 date)" )
 
 					# Retrieve table OIDs per empty result set.
 					res = @conn.exec_params( "SELECT * FROM copytable LIMIT 0", [], format )
@@ -136,13 +136,13 @@
 					row_encoder = nsp::CopyRow.new type_map: tm
 
 					@conn.copy_data( "COPY copytable FROM STDIN WITH (FORMAT #{ format==1 ? "binary" : "text" })", row_encoder ) do |res|
-						@conn.put_copy_data ["\xff\x00\n\r'", 123, Time.utc(2023, 3, 17, 3, 4, 5.6789123), Time.new(1990, 12, 17, 18, 44, 45, "+03:30").utc, 12.345, -12.345e167, Date.new(2055, 12, 31), Date.new(1234, 8, 31)]
-						@conn.put_copy_data ["  xyz  ", -444, "Infinity", "-infinity", -Float::INFINITY, Float::NAN, "infinity", "-infinity"]
+						@conn.put_copy_data ["\xff\x00\n\r'", 123, Time.utc(2023, 3, 17, 3, 4, 5.6789123), Time.new(1990, 12, 17, 18, 44, 45, "+03:30").utc, 12.345, -12.345e167, Date.new(2055, 12, 31), Date.new(1234, 8, 15), Date.new(1234, 8, 15, ::Date::GREGORIAN)]
+						@conn.put_copy_data ["  xyz  ", -444, "Infinity", "-infinity", -Float::INFINITY, Float::NAN, "infinity", "-infinity", nil]
 					end
 					res = @conn.exec( "SELECT * FROM copytable" )
 					expect( res.values ).to eq( [
-						["\\xff000a0d27", "123", "2023-03-17 03:04:05.678912", "1990-12-17 15:14:45", "12.345", "-1.2345e+168", "2055-12-31", "1234-08-31"],
-						["\\x202078797a2020", "-444", "infinity", "-infinity", "-Infinity", "NaN", "infinity", "-infinity"]
+						["\\xff000a0d27", "123", "2023-03-17 03:04:05.678912", "1990-12-17 15:14:45", "12.345", "-1.2345e+168", "2055-12-31", "1234-08-22", "1234-08-15"],
+						["\\x202078797a2020", "-444", "infinity", "-infinity", "-Infinity", "NaN", "infinity", "-infinity", nil]
 					] )
 				end
 			end
diff --git a/spec/pg/basic_type_map_for_results_spec.rb b/spec/pg/basic_type_map_for_results_spec.rb
index d3176c43c..d1cbe9e07 100644
--- a/spec/pg/basic_type_map_for_results_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/pg/basic_type_map_for_results_spec.rb
@@ -244,12 +244,15 @@
 				it "should do format #{format} date type conversions" do
 					res = @conn.exec_params( "SELECT CAST('2113-12-31' AS DATE),
 																		CAST('1913-12-31' AS DATE),
+																		CAST('1581-12-15' AS DATE),
 																		CAST('infinity' AS DATE),
 																		CAST('-infinity' AS DATE)", [], format )
 					expect( res.getvalue(0,0) ).to eq( Date.new(2113, 12, 31) )
 					expect( res.getvalue(0,1) ).to eq( Date.new(1913, 12, 31) )
-					expect( res.getvalue(0,2) ).to eq( 'infinity' )
-					expect( res.getvalue(0,3) ).to eq( '-infinity' )
+					expect( res.getvalue(0,2) ).to eq( Date.new(1581, 12, 15, Date::GREGORIAN) )
+					expect( res.getvalue(0,2) ).to eq( Date.new(1581, 12, 5, Date::JULIAN) )
+					expect( res.getvalue(0,3) ).to eq( 'infinity' )
+					expect( res.getvalue(0,4) ).to eq( '-infinity' )
 				end
 			end