diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 74e2a991..0d46810a 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -1,3 +1,13 @@
+2010-03-18  Nicolas François  <nicolas.francois@centraliens.net>
+
+	* libmisc/strtoday.c: Add support for numerical dates, assuming
+	they are already specified in number of days since Epoch. Return
+	-2 in case of errors to support the specification of -1.
+	* src/usermod.c, src/useradd.c: Adapt to the new error value of
+	strtoday().
+	* src/chage.c:  Remove isnum(). Adapt to the new error value of
+	strtoday(). Support for numerical dates is moved to strtoday().
+
 2010-03-18  Nicolas François  <nicolas.francois@centraliens.net>
 
 	* man/po/fr.po: Harmonize name of parameters.
diff --git a/libmisc/strtoday.c b/libmisc/strtoday.c
index 7abbf108..fe40e00a 100644
--- a/libmisc/strtoday.c
+++ b/libmisc/strtoday.c
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@
 
 #include <config.h>
 
+#include <ctype.h>
+
 #ident "$Id$"
 
 #include "defines.h"
@@ -44,6 +46,7 @@
 #ifndef USE_GETDATE
 #define USE_GETDATE 1
 #endif
+
 #if USE_GETDATE
 #include "getdate.h"
 /*
@@ -63,6 +66,8 @@
 long strtoday (const char *str)
 {
 	time_t t;
+	bool isnum = true;
+	const char *s = str;
 
 	/*
 	 * get_date() interprets an empty string as the current date,
@@ -70,12 +75,35 @@ long strtoday (const char *str)
 	 * (useradd sets sp_expire = current date for new lusers)
 	 */
 	if ((NULL == str) || ('\0' == *str)) {
-		return -1;
+		return -2;
 	}
 
-	t = get_date (str, (time_t *) 0);
+	/* If a numerical value is provided, this is already a number of
+	 * days since EPOCH.
+	 */
+	if ('-' == *s) {
+		s++;
+	}
+	while (' ' == *s) {
+		s++;
+	}
+	while (isnum && ('\0' != *s)) {
+		if (!isdigit (*s)) {
+			isnum = false;
+		}
+		s++;
+	}
+	if (isnum) {
+		long retdate;
+		if (getlong (str, &retdate) == 0) {
+			return -2;
+		}
+		return retdate;
+	}
+
+	t = get_date (str, NULL);
 	if ((time_t) - 1 == t) {
-		return -1;
+		return -2;
 	}
 	/* convert seconds to days since 1970-01-01 */
 	return (long) (t + DAY / 2) / DAY;
diff --git a/src/chage.c b/src/chage.c
index 238a503c..c986cb8e 100644
--- a/src/chage.c
+++ b/src/chage.c
@@ -93,7 +93,6 @@ static long expdate;
 #define	EPOCH		"1969-12-31"
 
 /* local function prototypes */
-static bool isnum (const char *s);
 static void usage (int status);
 static void date_to_str (char *buf, size_t maxsize, time_t date);
 static int new_fields (void);
@@ -138,20 +137,6 @@ static void fail_exit (int code)
 	exit (code);
 }
 
-/*
- * isnum - determine whether or not a string is a number
- */
-static bool isnum (const char *s)
-{
-	while ('\0' != *s) {
-		if (!isdigit (*s)) {
-			return false;
-		}
-		s++;
-	}
-	return true;
-}
-
 /*
  * usage - print command line syntax and exit
  */
@@ -226,7 +211,7 @@ static int new_fields (void)
 		lstchgdate = -1;
 	} else {
 		lstchgdate = strtoday (buf);
-		if (lstchgdate == -1) {
+		if (lstchgdate < -1) {
 			return 0;
 		}
 	}
@@ -254,7 +239,7 @@ static int new_fields (void)
 		expdate = -1;
 	} else {
 		expdate = strtoday (buf);
-		if (expdate == -1) {
+		if (expdate < -1) {
 			return 0;
 		}
 	}
@@ -409,10 +394,8 @@ static void process_flags (int argc, char **argv)
 		switch (c) {
 		case 'd':
 			dflg = true;
-			if (!isnum (optarg)) {
-				lstchgdate = strtoday (optarg);
-			} else if (   (getlong (optarg, &lstchgdate) == 0)
-			           || (lstchgdate < -1)) {
+			lstchgdate = strtoday (optarg);
+			if (lstchgdate < -1) {
 				fprintf (stderr,
 				         _("%s: invalid date '%s'\n"),
 				         Prog, optarg);
@@ -421,10 +404,8 @@ static void process_flags (int argc, char **argv)
 			break;
 		case 'E':
 			Eflg = true;
-			if (!isnum (optarg)) {
-				expdate = strtoday (optarg);
-			} else if (   (getlong (optarg, &expdate) == 0)
-			           || (expdate < -1)) {
+			expdate = strtoday (optarg);
+			if (expdate < -1) {
 				fprintf (stderr,
 				         _("%s: invalid date '%s'\n"),
 				         Prog, optarg);
diff --git a/src/useradd.c b/src/useradd.c
index d8cb8fbd..ee656f7c 100644
--- a/src/useradd.c
+++ b/src/useradd.c
@@ -1041,7 +1041,7 @@ static void process_flags (int argc, char **argv)
 			case 'e':
 				if ('\0' != *optarg) {
 					user_expire = strtoday (optarg);
-					if (user_expire == -1) {
+					if (user_expire < -1) {
 						fprintf (stderr,
 						         _("%s: invalid date '%s'\n"),
 						         Prog, optarg);
diff --git a/src/usermod.c b/src/usermod.c
index bb9f85ad..b4127177 100644
--- a/src/usermod.c
+++ b/src/usermod.c
@@ -940,7 +940,7 @@ static void process_flags (int argc, char **argv)
 			case 'e':
 				if ('\0' != *optarg) {
 					user_newexpire = strtoday (optarg);
-					if (user_newexpire == -1) {
+					if (user_newexpire < -1) {
 						fprintf (stderr,
 						         _("%s: invalid date '%s'\n"),
 						         Prog, optarg);