diff --git a/bugwarrior/services/__init__.py b/bugwarrior/services/__init__.py
index 20e1b8747..1624d8e8c 100644
--- a/bugwarrior/services/__init__.py
+++ b/bugwarrior/services/__init__.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 from pkg_resources import iter_entry_points
 
 from dateutil.parser import parse as parse_date
-from dateutil.tz import tzlocal, tzutc
+from dateutil.tz import tzlocal
 from jinja2 import Template
 import pytz
 import six
@@ -346,8 +346,6 @@ def parse_date(self, date, timezone='UTC'):
             if not date.tzinfo:
                 if timezone == LOCAL_TIMEZONE:
                     tzinfo = tzlocal()
-                elif timezone == 'UTC':
-                    tzinfo = tzutc()
                 else:
                     tzinfo = pytz.timezone(timezone)
                 date = date.replace(tzinfo=tzinfo)
diff --git a/bugwarrior/services/gmail.py b/bugwarrior/services/gmail.py
index e1e72be06..1081ad4bb 100644
--- a/bugwarrior/services/gmail.py
+++ b/bugwarrior/services/gmail.py
@@ -97,8 +97,8 @@ def get_annotations(self):
         return self.extra.get('annotations', [])
 
     def get_entry(self):
-        date_string = time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S', time.localtime(int(self.extra['internal_date']) / 1000))
-        return self.parse_date(date_string, 'UTC')
+        date_string = time.strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S', time.gmtime(int(self.extra['internal_date']) / 1000))
+        return self.parse_date(date_string)
 
 
 class GmailService(IssueService):
diff --git a/tests/test_gmail.py b/tests/test_gmail.py
index 58e83ab59..54aa3eda7 100644
--- a/tests/test_gmail.py
+++ b/tests/test_gmail.py
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 import os.path
-import dateutil
 from datetime import datetime
 
 import mock
+from dateutil.tz import tzutc
 
 import bugwarrior.services.gmail as gmail
 from .base import ServiceTest, AbstractServiceTest
@@ -86,7 +86,7 @@ def test_to_taskwarrior(self):
                 gmail.thread_extras(thread, self.service.get_labels()))
         expected = {
             'annotations': [],
-            'entry': datetime(2019, 1, 5, 16, 7, 47, tzinfo=dateutil.tz.tz.tzutc()),
+            'entry': datetime(2019, 1, 5, 21, 7, 47, tzinfo=tzutc()),
             'gmailthreadid': '1234',
             'gmaillastmessageid': 'CMCRSF+6r=x5JtW4wlRYR5qdfRq+iAtSoec5NqrHvRpvVgHbHdg@mail.gmail.com',
             'gmailsnippet': 'Bugwarrior is great',
@@ -107,7 +107,7 @@ def test_issues(self):
         issue = next(self.service.issues())
         expected = {
             'annotations': ['@Foo Bar - Regarding Bugwarrior'],
-            'entry': datetime(2019, 1, 5, 16, 7, 47, tzinfo=dateutil.tz.tz.tzutc()),
+            'entry': datetime(2019, 1, 5, 21, 7, 47, tzinfo=tzutc()),
             'gmailthreadid': '1234',
             'gmaillastmessageid': 'CMCRSF+6r=x5JtW4wlRYR5qdfRq+iAtSoec5NqrHvRpvVgHbHdg@mail.gmail.com',
             'gmailsnippet': 'Bugwarrior is great',