diff --git a/influxql/ast.go b/influxql/ast.go
index 8bf3c16a79..b0f2efc721 100644
--- a/influxql/ast.go
+++ b/influxql/ast.go
@@ -810,7 +810,7 @@ type TimeLiteral struct {
 
 // String returns a string representation of the literal.
 func (l *TimeLiteral) String() string {
-	return `"` + l.Val.UTC().Format(TimeFormat) + `"`
+	return `"` + l.Val.UTC().Format(DateTimeFormat) + `"`
 }
 
 // DurationLiteral represents a duration literal.
diff --git a/influxql/ast_test.go b/influxql/ast_test.go
index 85bf902b7b..d12afce621 100644
--- a/influxql/ast_test.go
+++ b/influxql/ast_test.go
@@ -199,11 +199,11 @@ func TestTimeRange(t *testing.T) {
 		min, max := influxql.TimeRange(expr)
 
 		// Compare with expected min/max.
-		if min := min.Format(influxql.TimeFormat); tt.min != min {
+		if min := min.Format(influxql.DateTimeFormat); tt.min != min {
 			t.Errorf("%d. %s: unexpected min:\n\nexp=%s\n\ngot=%s\n\n", i, tt.expr, tt.min, min)
 			continue
 		}
-		if max := max.Format(influxql.TimeFormat); tt.max != max {
+		if max := max.Format(influxql.DateTimeFormat); tt.max != max {
 			t.Errorf("%d. %s: unexpected max:\n\nexp=%s\n\ngot=%s\n\n", i, tt.expr, tt.max, max)
 			continue
 		}
diff --git a/influxql/engine.go b/influxql/engine.go
index 94fde06485..fbebd713c8 100644
--- a/influxql/engine.go
+++ b/influxql/engine.go
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ func (p *Planner) Plan(stmt *SelectStatement) (*Executor, error) {
 		max = now
 	}
 	if max.Before(min) {
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid time range: %s - %s", min.Format(TimeFormat), max.Format(TimeFormat))
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("invalid time range: %s - %s", min.Format(DateTimeFormat), max.Format(DateTimeFormat))
 	}
 	e.min, e.max = min, max
 
diff --git a/influxql/parser.go b/influxql/parser.go
index 9f934a8d97..5b7a498075 100644
--- a/influxql/parser.go
+++ b/influxql/parser.go
@@ -10,8 +10,13 @@ import (
 	"time"
 )
 
-// TimeFormat represents the format for time literals.
-const TimeFormat = "2006-01-02 15:04:05.999999"
+const (
+	// DateFormat represents the format for date literals.
+	DateFormat = "2006-01-02"
+
+	// DateTimeFormat represents the format for date time literals.
+	DateTimeFormat = "2006-01-02 15:04:05.999999"
+)
 
 // Parser represents an InfluxQL parser.
 type Parser struct {
@@ -852,10 +857,16 @@ func (p *Parser) parseUnaryExpr() (Expr, error) {
 		}
 	case STRING:
 		// If literal looks like a date time then parse it as a time literal.
-		if isTimeString(lit) {
-			t, err := time.Parse(TimeFormat, lit)
+		if isDateTimeString(lit) {
+			t, err := time.Parse(DateTimeFormat, lit)
 			if err != nil {
-				return nil, &ParseError{Message: "unable to parse time", Pos: pos}
+				return nil, &ParseError{Message: "unable to parse datetime", Pos: pos}
+			}
+			return &TimeLiteral{Val: t}, nil
+		} else if isDateString(lit) {
+			t, err := time.Parse(DateFormat, lit)
+			if err != nil {
+				return nil, &ParseError{Message: "unable to parse date", Pos: pos}
 			}
 			return &TimeLiteral{Val: t}, nil
 		}
@@ -1034,10 +1045,14 @@ func split(s string) (a []rune) {
 	return
 }
 
-// isTimeString returns true if the string looks like a time literal.
-func isTimeString(s string) bool { return timeStringRegexp.MatchString(s) }
+// isDateString returns true if the string looks like a datetime literal.
+func isDateString(s string) bool { return dateStringRegexp.MatchString(s) }
 
-var timeStringRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2} \d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}(?:\.\d+)?$`)
+// isDateTimeString returns true if the string looks like a datetime literal.
+func isDateTimeString(s string) bool { return dateTimeStringRegexp.MatchString(s) }
+
+var dateStringRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}$`)
+var dateTimeStringRegexp = regexp.MustCompile(`^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2} \d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}(?:\.\d+)?$`)
 
 // ErrInvalidDuration is returned when parsing a malformatted duration.
 var ErrInvalidDuration = errors.New("invalid duration")
diff --git a/influxql/parser_test.go b/influxql/parser_test.go
index 97f5899a68..ad347c237b 100644
--- a/influxql/parser_test.go
+++ b/influxql/parser_test.go
@@ -349,7 +349,9 @@ func TestParser_ParseExpr(t *testing.T) {
 		{s: `false`, expr: &influxql.BooleanLiteral{Val: false}},
 		{s: `my_ident`, expr: &influxql.VarRef{Val: "my_ident"}},
 		{s: `"2000-01-01 00:00:00"`, expr: &influxql.TimeLiteral{Val: mustParseTime("2000-01-01T00:00:00Z")}},
-		{s: `"2000-01-32 00:00:00"`, err: `unable to parse time at line 1, char 1`},
+		{s: `"2000-01-32 00:00:00"`, err: `unable to parse datetime at line 1, char 1`},
+		{s: `"2000-01-01"`, expr: &influxql.TimeLiteral{Val: mustParseTime("2000-01-01T00:00:00Z")}},
+		{s: `"2000-01-99"`, err: `unable to parse date at line 1, char 1`},
 
 		// Simple binary expression
 		{