diff --git a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
index 2df1515e0..edebc7741 100644
--- a/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
+++ b/hledger-lib/Hledger/Read/JournalReader.hs
@@ -538,7 +538,10 @@ datep = do
   -- hacky: try to ensure precise errors for invalid dates
   -- XXX reported error position is not too good
   -- pos <- genericSourcePos <$> getPosition
-  datestr <- many1 $ choice' [digit, datesepchar]
+  datestr <- do
+    c <- digit
+    cs <- many $ choice' [digit, datesepchar]
+    return $ c:cs
   let sepchars = nub $ sort $ filter (`elem` datesepchars) datestr
   when (length sepchars /= 1) $ fail $ "bad date, different separators used: " ++ datestr
   let dateparts = wordsBy (`elem` datesepchars) datestr