diff --git a/activesupport/CHANGELOG b/activesupport/CHANGELOG
index cd48b01c19..6ff50eab54 100644
--- a/activesupport/CHANGELOG
+++ b/activesupport/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 *SVN*
 
+* Add config.active_support.use_standard_json_time_format setting so that Times and Dates export to ISO 8601 dates.  [rick]
+
 * TZInfo: Removing unneeded TimezoneProxy class [Geoff Buesing]
 
 * TZInfo: Removing unneeded TimezoneIndexDefinition, since we're not including Indexes::Timezones [Geoff Buesing] 
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/json.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/json.rb
index 6c828293e8..5acb02dbe9 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/json.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/json.rb
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@ require 'active_support/json/encoding'
 require 'active_support/json/decoding'
 
 module ActiveSupport
+  mattr_accessor :use_standard_json_time_format
+
   module JSON
     RESERVED_WORDS = %w(
       abstract      delete        goto          private       transient
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/date.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/date.rb
index d55f17962b..cb9419d29d 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/date.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/date.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ class Date
   #   Date.new(2005,2,1).to_json
   #   # => "2005/02/01"
   def to_json(options = nil)
-    %("#{strftime("%Y/%m/%d")}")
+    if ActiveSupport.use_standard_json_time_format
+      %("#{strftime("%Y-%m-%d")}")
+    else
+      %("#{strftime("%Y/%m/%d")}")
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/date_time.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/date_time.rb
index 380361c360..d41c3e9786 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/date_time.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/date_time.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ class DateTime
   #   DateTime.civil(2005,2,1,15,15,10).to_json
   #   # => "2005/02/01 15:15:10 +0000"
   def to_json(options = nil)
-    %("#{strftime("%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S %z")}")
+    if ActiveSupport.use_standard_json_time_format
+      xmlschema.inspect
+    else
+      %("#{strftime("%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S %z")}")
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/time.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/time.rb
index b0c9189c78..3660d87c82 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/time.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/json/encoders/time.rb
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ class Time
   #   Time.utc(2005,2,1,15,15,10).to_json
   #   # => 2005/02/01 15:15:10 +0000"
   def to_json(options = nil)
-    %("#{strftime("%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S")} #{formatted_offset(false)}")
+    if ActiveSupport.use_standard_json_time_format
+      utc.xmlschema.inspect
+    else
+      %("#{strftime("%Y/%m/%d %H:%M:%S")} #{formatted_offset(false)}")
+    end
   end
 end
diff --git a/activesupport/test/json/encoding_test.rb b/activesupport/test/json/encoding_test.rb
index 1cbd472a99..290232988a 100644
--- a/activesupport/test/json/encoding_test.rb
+++ b/activesupport/test/json/encoding_test.rb
@@ -35,10 +35,19 @@ class TestJSONEncoding < Test::Unit::TestCase
   TimeTests     = [[ Time.utc(2005,2,1,15,15,10), %("2005/02/01 15:15:10 +0000") ]]
   DateTimeTests = [[ DateTime.civil(2005,2,1,15,15,10), %("2005/02/01 15:15:10 +0000") ]]
 
+  StandardDateTests     = [[ Date.new(2005,2,1), %("2005-02-01") ]]
+  StandardTimeTests     = [[ Time.utc(2005,2,1,15,15,10), %("2005-02-01T15:15:10Z") ]]
+  StandardDateTimeTests = [[ DateTime.civil(2005,2,1,15,15,10), %("2005-02-01T15:15:10+00:00") ]]
+
   constants.grep(/Tests$/).each do |class_tests|
-    define_method("test_#{class_tests[0..-6].downcase}") do
-      self.class.const_get(class_tests).each do |pair|
-        assert_equal pair.last, pair.first.to_json
+    define_method("test_#{class_tests[0..-6].underscore}") do
+      begin
+        ActiveSupport.use_standard_json_time_format = class_tests =~ /^Standard/
+        self.class.const_get(class_tests).each do |pair|
+          assert_equal pair.last, pair.first.to_json
+        end
+      ensure
+        ActiveSupport.use_standard_json_time_format = false
       end
     end
   end