diff --git a/lib/angular.dart b/lib/angular.dart
index a663a77d5..e426a4e73 100644
--- a/lib/angular.dart
+++ b/lib/angular.dart
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import 'dart:html' as dom;
 import 'dart:js' as js;
 import 'package:di/di.dart';
 import 'package:di/dynamic_injector.dart';
+import 'package:intl/date_symbol_data_local.dart';
 
 /**
  * If you are writing code accessed from Angular expressions, you must include
diff --git a/lib/bootstrap.dart b/lib/bootstrap.dart
index c4d0bf117..0b64e3a1a 100644
--- a/lib/bootstrap.dart
+++ b/lib/bootstrap.dart
@@ -89,8 +89,10 @@ Injector ngBootstrap({
   return zone.run(() {
     var rootElements = [element];
     Injector injector = injectorFactory(ngModules);
-    injector.get(Compiler)(rootElements, injector.get(DirectiveMap))
-        (injector, rootElements);
+    initializeDateFormatting(null, null).then((_) {
+      injector.get(Compiler)(rootElements, injector.get(DirectiveMap))
+          (injector, rootElements);
+    });
     return injector;
   });
 }
diff --git a/test/filter/date_spec.dart b/test/filter/date_spec.dart
index 2cb48e19d..eeeb4046c 100644
--- a/test/filter/date_spec.dart
+++ b/test/filter/date_spec.dart
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 library date_spec;
 
 import '../_specs.dart';
+import 'package:intl/intl.dart';
 
 main() => describe('date', () {
   var morning   = DateTime.parse('2010-09-03T07:05:08.008Z'); //7am
@@ -63,4 +64,19 @@ main() => describe('date', () {
     date(noon, "shortTime");
     date(noon, "shortTime");
   });
+
+  it('should accept various locales', () {
+
+    try {
+      Intl.defaultLocale = 'de';
+      expect(date(noon, "medium")).
+      toEqual('Sep 3, 2010 12:05:08 nachm.');
+
+      Intl.defaultLocale = 'fr';
+      expect(date(noon, "medium")).
+      toEqual('sept. 3, 2010 12:05:08 PM');
+    } finally {
+      Intl.defaultLocale = 'en';
+    }
+  });
 });