diff --git a/src/datetime.js b/src/datetime.js
index 09a389e7..92972dbe 100644
--- a/src/datetime.js
+++ b/src/datetime.js
@@ -387,8 +387,8 @@ function normalizeUnitWithLocalWeeks(unit) {
 // single timestamp for all zones to make things a bit more predictable.
 //
 // This is safe for quickDT (used by local() and utc()) because we don't fill in
-// higher-order units from tsNow (as we do in fromObject, this requires that
-// offset is calculated from tsNow).
+// higher-order units from tsRef (as we do in fromObject, this requires that
+// offset is calculated from tsRef).
 function guessOffsetForZone(zone) {
   if (!zoneOffsetGuessCache[zone]) {
     if (zoneOffsetTs === undefined) {
@@ -745,8 +745,10 @@ export default class DateTime {
    * @param {string} [opts.locale='system\'s locale'] - a locale to set on the resulting DateTime instance
    * @param {string} opts.outputCalendar - the output calendar to set on the resulting DateTime instance
    * @param {string} opts.numberingSystem - the numbering system to set on the resulting DateTime instance
+   * @param {DateTime|Date|Object} opts.referenceDate - the reference date to take for missing parts
    * @example DateTime.fromObject({ year: 1982, month: 5, day: 25}).toISODate() //=> '1982-05-25'
    * @example DateTime.fromObject({ year: 1982 }).toISODate() //=> '1982-01-01'
+   * @example DateTime.fromObject({ year: 1982 }, { referenceDate: { day: 10 } }).toISODate() //=> '1982-01-10'
    * @example DateTime.fromObject({ hour: 10, minute: 26, second: 6 }) //~> today at 10:26:06
    * @example DateTime.fromObject({ hour: 10, minute: 26, second: 6 }, { zone: 'utc' }),
    * @example DateTime.fromObject({ hour: 10, minute: 26, second: 6 }, { zone: 'local' })
@@ -766,10 +768,12 @@ export default class DateTime {
     const normalized = normalizeObject(obj, normalizeUnitWithLocalWeeks);
     const { minDaysInFirstWeek, startOfWeek } = usesLocalWeekValues(normalized, loc);
 
-    const tsNow = Settings.now(),
+    const tsRef = isUndefined(opts.referenceDate)
+      ? Settings.now()
+      : friendlyDateTime(opts.referenceDate).toUnixInteger(),
       offsetProvis = !isUndefined(opts.specificOffset)
         ? opts.specificOffset
-        : zoneToUse.offset(tsNow),
+        : zoneToUse.offset(tsRef),
       containsOrdinal = !isUndefined(normalized.ordinal),
       containsGregorYear = !isUndefined(normalized.year),
       containsGregorMD = !isUndefined(normalized.month) || !isUndefined(normalized.day),
@@ -797,7 +801,7 @@ export default class DateTime {
     // configure ourselves to deal with gregorian dates or week stuff
     let units,
       defaultValues,
-      objNow = tsToObj(tsNow, offsetProvis);
+      objNow = tsToObj(tsRef, offsetProvis);
     if (useWeekData) {
       units = orderedWeekUnits;
       defaultValues = defaultWeekUnitValues;
@@ -874,6 +878,7 @@ export default class DateTime {
    * @param {string} [opts.locale='system's locale'] - a locale to set on the resulting DateTime instance
    * @param {string} [opts.outputCalendar] - the output calendar to set on the resulting DateTime instance
    * @param {string} [opts.numberingSystem] - the numbering system to set on the resulting DateTime instance
+   * @param {DateTime|Date|Object} opts.referenceDate - the reference date to take for missing parts
    * @example DateTime.fromISO('2016-05-25T09:08:34.123')
    * @example DateTime.fromISO('2016-05-25T09:08:34.123+06:00')
    * @example DateTime.fromISO('2016-05-25T09:08:34.123+06:00', {setZone: true})
@@ -895,6 +900,7 @@ export default class DateTime {
    * @param {string} [opts.locale='system's locale'] - a locale to set on the resulting DateTime instance
    * @param {string} opts.outputCalendar - the output calendar to set on the resulting DateTime instance
    * @param {string} opts.numberingSystem - the numbering system to set on the resulting DateTime instance
+   * @param {DateTime|Date|Object} opts.referenceDate - the reference date to take for missing parts
    * @example DateTime.fromRFC2822('25 Nov 2016 13:23:12 GMT')
    * @example DateTime.fromRFC2822('Fri, 25 Nov 2016 13:23:12 +0600')
    * @example DateTime.fromRFC2822('25 Nov 2016 13:23 Z')
@@ -915,6 +921,7 @@ export default class DateTime {
    * @param {string} [opts.locale='system's locale'] - a locale to set on the resulting DateTime instance
    * @param {string} opts.outputCalendar - the output calendar to set on the resulting DateTime instance
    * @param {string} opts.numberingSystem - the numbering system to set on the resulting DateTime instance
+   * @param {DateTime|Date|Object} opts.referenceDate - the reference date to take for missing parts
    * @example DateTime.fromHTTP('Sun, 06 Nov 1994 08:49:37 GMT')
    * @example DateTime.fromHTTP('Sunday, 06-Nov-94 08:49:37 GMT')
    * @example DateTime.fromHTTP('Sun Nov  6 08:49:37 1994')
@@ -936,6 +943,7 @@ export default class DateTime {
    * @param {string} [opts.locale='en-US'] - a locale string to use when parsing. Will also set the DateTime to this locale
    * @param {string} opts.numberingSystem - the numbering system to use when parsing. Will also set the resulting DateTime to this numbering system
    * @param {string} opts.outputCalendar - the output calendar to set on the resulting DateTime instance
+   * @param {DateTime|Date|Object} opts.referenceDate - the reference date to take for missing parts
    * @return {DateTime}
    */
   static fromFormat(text, fmt, opts = {}) {
@@ -974,6 +982,7 @@ export default class DateTime {
    * @param {string} [opts.locale='en-US'] - a locale string to use when parsing. Will also set the DateTime to this locale
    * @param {string} opts.numberingSystem - the numbering system to use when parsing. Will also set the resulting DateTime to this numbering system
    * @param {string} opts.outputCalendar - the output calendar to set on the resulting DateTime instance
+   * @param {DateTime|Date|Object} opts.referenceDate - the reference date to take for missing parts
    * @example DateTime.fromSQL('2017-05-15')
    * @example DateTime.fromSQL('2017-05-15 09:12:34')
    * @example DateTime.fromSQL('2017-05-15 09:12:34.342')
diff --git a/test/datetime/create.test.js b/test/datetime/create.test.js
index 67613a61..ffe72ed9 100644
--- a/test/datetime/create.test.js
+++ b/test/datetime/create.test.js
@@ -883,6 +883,12 @@ test("DateTime.fromObject takes a undefined to mean {}", () => {
   expect(res.year).toBe(new Date().getFullYear());
 });
 
+test("DateTime.fromObject respects `referenceDate`", () => {
+  const res = DateTime.fromObject(undefined, { referenceDate: { day: 10 } });
+  expect(res.year).toBe(new Date().getFullYear());
+  expect(res.day).toBe(10);
+});
+
 test("private language subtags don't break unicode subtags", () => {
   const res = DateTime.fromObject(
     {},