diff --git a/daemon/rule/loader.go b/daemon/rule/loader.go
index 6f37abe556..e10188ab18 100644
--- a/daemon/rule/loader.go
+++ b/daemon/rule/loader.go
@@ -182,7 +182,8 @@ func (l *Loader) Replace(rule *Rule, saveToDisk bool) error {
 
 // Save a rule to disk.
 func (l *Loader) Save(rule *Rule, path string) error {
-	rule.Updated = time.Now()
+	// When saving the rule, use always RFC3339 format for the Created field (#1140).
+	rule.Updated = time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339)
 	raw, err := json.MarshalIndent(rule, "", "  ")
 	if err != nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("Error while saving rule %s to %s: %s", rule, path, err)
diff --git a/daemon/rule/rule.go b/daemon/rule/rule.go
index 8e5101b748..46d336298a 100644
--- a/daemon/rule/rule.go
+++ b/daemon/rule/rule.go
@@ -38,22 +38,24 @@ const (
 // The fields match the ones saved as json to disk.
 // If a .json rule file is modified on disk, it's reloaded automatically.
 type Rule struct {
-	Created     time.Time `json:"created"`
-	Updated     time.Time `json:"updated"`
-	Name        string    `json:"name"`
-	Description string    `json:"description"`
-	Action      Action    `json:"action"`
-	Duration    Duration  `json:"duration"`
-	Operator    Operator  `json:"operator"`
-	Enabled     bool      `json:"enabled"`
-	Precedence  bool      `json:"precedence"`
-	Nolog       bool      `json:"nolog"`
+	// Save date fields as string, to avoid issues marshalling Time (#1140).
+	Created string `json:"created"`
+	Updated string `json:"updated"`
+
+	Name        string   `json:"name"`
+	Description string   `json:"description"`
+	Action      Action   `json:"action"`
+	Duration    Duration `json:"duration"`
+	Operator    Operator `json:"operator"`
+	Enabled     bool     `json:"enabled"`
+	Precedence  bool     `json:"precedence"`
+	Nolog       bool     `json:"nolog"`
 }
 
 // Create creates a new rule object with the specified parameters.
 func Create(name, description string, enabled, precedence, nolog bool, action Action, duration Duration, op *Operator) *Rule {
 	return &Rule{
-		Created:     time.Now(),
+		Created:     time.Now().Format(time.RFC3339),
 		Enabled:     enabled,
 		Precedence:  precedence,
 		Nolog:       nolog,
@@ -135,8 +137,15 @@ func (r *Rule) Serialize() *protocol.Rule {
 	r.Operator.Lock()
 	defer r.Operator.Unlock()
 
+	created, err := time.Parse(time.RFC3339, r.Created)
+	if err != nil {
+		log.Warning("Error parsing rule Created date (it should be in RFC3339 format): %s  (%s)", err, string(r.Name))
+		log.Warning("using current time instead: %s", created)
+		created = time.Now()
+	}
+
 	protoRule := &protocol.Rule{
-		Created:     r.Created.Unix(),
+		Created:     created.Unix(),
 		Name:        string(r.Name),
 		Description: string(r.Description),
 		Enabled:     bool(r.Enabled),