diff --git a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
index b0231478a..7c3cb711f 100644
--- a/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
+++ b/docs/changelog/7.x.x.txt
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
  - fixed #12179: DataTable Field types get reset to "Text" in Edit Schema (Amir Plivatsky)
  - added: FormField macro for rendering Form objects directly from templates
  - fixed: Generic Tax driver does not like spaces around commas
+ - fixed: Date formatting with WebGUI::DateTime has extra spaces for single digit months and days.
 
 7.10.19
  - fixed #12169: extras uploads symlink export
diff --git a/lib/WebGUI/DateTime.pm b/lib/WebGUI/DateTime.pm
index 2ff53a969..d5fd13a14 100644
--- a/lib/WebGUI/DateTime.pm
+++ b/lib/WebGUI/DateTime.pm
@@ -491,7 +491,9 @@ sub session {
 Change a WebGUI format into a Strftime format.
 
 NOTE: %M in WebGUI's format has no equivalent in strftime format, so it will
-be replaced with "_varmonth_". Do something with it.
+be replaced with "{month}".  Single digit hours are handled similarly.  DateTime's
+strftime will use {method} to call a method on the object to fill in that part of
+the format.
 
 =cut
 
@@ -514,13 +516,13 @@ sub webguiToStrftime {
                 "c" => "B",
                 "C" => "b",
                 "d" => "d",
-                "D" => "e",
+                "D" => "{day}",
                 "h" => "I",
                 "H" => "l",
                 "j" => "H",
                 "J" => "k",
                 "m" => "m",
-                "M" => "_varmonth_",
+                "M" => "{month}",
                 "n" => "M",
                 "t" => "Z",
                 "O" => "z",
@@ -587,12 +589,7 @@ sub webguiDate {
 
    my $format = $self->webguiToStrftime( shift || "%z %Z" );
 
-   #--- %M
    my $datestr = $self->strftime($format);
-   my $temp = int($self->month);
-   $datestr =~ s/\%_varmonth_/$temp/g;
-
-   #--- return
    return $datestr;
 }
 #######################################################################
diff --git a/t/DateTime.t b/t/DateTime.t
index 48026b902..3879f832a 100644
--- a/t/DateTime.t
+++ b/t/DateTime.t
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ my $session = WebGUI::Test->session;
 
 # put your tests here
 
-plan tests => 30;
+plan tests => 32;
 
 my $timeZoneUser = addUser($session);
 
@@ -98,11 +98,15 @@ is( $nowDt->webguiToStrftime('%y-%m-%d'), '%Y-%m-%d', 'webgui to strftime conver
 
 $timeZoneUser->update({ 'dateFormat' => '%y-%M-%D' });
 $timeZoneUser->update({ 'timeFormat' => '%H:%n %p' });
-is( $nowDt->webguiToStrftime, '%Y-%_varmonth_-%e %l:%M %P', 'default datetime string' );
+is( $nowDt->webguiToStrftime, '%Y-%{month}-%{day} %l:%M %P', 'default datetime string' );
 
+my $single_digit = WebGUI::DateTime->new($session, '2011-07-04 15:00:00');
+is $single_digit->webguiDate("%z"), '2011-7-4', 'single digit month and day check';
+is $single_digit->webguiDate("%z"), $session->datetime->epochToHuman($single_digit->epoch, '%z'), 'webguiDate, an exact match to session->datetime';
 
 sub addUser {
 	my $session = shift;
+
 	my $user = WebGUI::User->new($session, "new");
 
 	##From my research, this particular time zone does NOT follow daylight savings,