diff --git a/ckanext/odsh/plugin.py b/ckanext/odsh/plugin.py
index 13346985deb69aeb2d805856a00ae3aa26aead6f..396a6f0079133b23791c8c8b5b4df052843666d4 100644
--- a/ckanext/odsh/plugin.py
+++ b/ckanext/odsh/plugin.py
@@ -566,25 +566,27 @@ class OdshPlugin(plugins.SingletonPlugin, DefaultTranslation, DefaultDatasetForm
             is_new = False
         else:
             date_package_created = self._get_date_from_string(date_package_created_as_str)
-            is_new = odsh_helpers.is_within_last_month(date_package_created)
+            if date_package_created == None:
+                is_new = False
+            else:
+                is_new = odsh_helpers.is_within_last_month(date_package_created)
         return is_new
     
     def _get_date_of_package_creation_from_pkg_dict(self, pkg_dict):
         if 'extras' in pkg_dict:
-            extras = pk_dict['extras']
+            extras = pkg_dict['extras']
             issued = odsh_helpers.odsh_extract_value_from_extras(extras=extras, key='issued') # is None if issued not in extras
             return issued
         else:
             return None
     
     def _get_date_from_string(self, date_time_str):
-        # todo: update this function if used in different context
-        date_time_format = '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%f' #e.g. u'2019-06-12T11:56:25.059563'
+        date_time_format = '%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S' #e.g. u'2019-06-12T11:56:25'
         try:
             date_time = datetime.datetime.strptime(date_time_str, date_time_format)
+            date = date_time.date()
         except ValueError:
-            # if date cannot be converted from string fall back to 1.1.2000
-            date = datetime.date(2000, 1, 1)
-        date = date_time.date()
+            # if date cannot be converted from string return None
+            date = None
         return date