diff --git a/tests/__init__.py b/tests/__init__.py
index 84465f2..1dd131d 100644
--- a/tests/__init__.py
+++ b/tests/__init__.py
@@ -171,6 +171,17 @@ def test_cell_type_date(self):
         ws = wb["test"]
         self.assertEquals(ws["A1"].value.date(), date(1981, 1, 24))
 
+    def test_empty_cell_type_date(self):
+        template = """
+        <sheet title="test">
+            <row><cell type="date" date-fmt="%d.%m.%Y"></cell></row>
+        </sheet>
+        """
+        sheet = io.BytesIO(xml2xlsx(template))
+        wb = load_workbook(sheet)
+        ws = wb['test']
+        self.assertEquals(ws['A1'].value, None)
+
     def test_cell_number_format(self):
         template = """
         <sheet title="test">
diff --git a/xml2xlsx/__init__.py b/xml2xlsx/__init__.py
index f380d79..6b6301f 100644
--- a/xml2xlsx/__init__.py
+++ b/xml2xlsx/__init__.py
@@ -212,8 +212,12 @@ def end(self, tag):
                     except InvalidOperation:
                         pass
             elif self._cell_type == 'date':
-                self._cell.value = datetime.strptime(
-                        self._cell.value, self._cell_date_format).date()
+                if self._cell.value:
+                    try:
+                        self._cell.value = datetime.strptime(
+                            self._cell.value, self._cell_date_format).date()
+                    except TypeError:
+                        pass
             self._row_buf.append(self._cell)
             self._cell = None
             self._col += 1