diff --git a/src/JMS/Serializer/Handler/DateHandler.php b/src/JMS/Serializer/Handler/DateHandler.php
index 58bf42bd..930f8824 100644
--- a/src/JMS/Serializer/Handler/DateHandler.php
+++ b/src/JMS/Serializer/Handler/DateHandler.php
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ public function deserializeDateTimeFromJson(JsonDeserializationVisitor $visitor,
 
     private function parseDateTime($data, array $type)
     {
-        $timezone = isset($type['params'][1]) ? $type['params'][1] : $this->defaultTimezone;
+        $timezone = isset($type['params'][1]) ? new \DateTimeZone($type['params'][1]) : $this->defaultTimezone;
         $format = $this->getFormat($type);
         $datetime = \DateTime::createFromFormat($format, (string) $data, $timezone);
         if (false === $datetime) {