diff --git a/grunt/tasks/test.js b/grunt/tasks/test.js
index 43b49cb13..8e23ab146 100644
--- a/grunt/tasks/test.js
+++ b/grunt/tasks/test.js
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ module.exports = function test (grunt) {
 		['connect:testServer', 'jshint', 'saucelabs-qunit:defaultBrowsers']);
 
 	grunt.registerTask('travisci', 'Tests to run when in Travis CI environment',
-		['browserify:commonjs', 'test', 'dist', 'qunit:dist']);
+		['browserify:commonjs', 'dist', 'test', 'qunit:dist']);
 
 	// if you've already accidentally added your files for commit, this will at least unstage them. If you haven't, this will wipe them out.
 	grunt.registerTask('resetdist', 'resets changes to dist to keep them from being checked in', function resetdist () {
diff --git a/js/datepicker.js b/js/datepicker.js
index 2c0045009..dfa74d676 100644
--- a/js/datepicker.js
+++ b/js/datepicker.js
@@ -395,13 +395,13 @@
 						return (true === md.isValid()) ? md.toDate() : BAD_DATE;
 					};
 
-					tryMomentParseAll = function (d, parseFunc1, parseFunc2) {
-						var pd = parseFunc1(d);
+					tryMomentParseAll = function (rawDateString, parseFunc1, parseFunc2) {
+						var pd = parseFunc1(rawDateString);
 						if (!self.isInvalidDate(pd)) {
 							return pd;
 						}
 
-						pd = parseFunc2(pd);
+						pd = parseFunc2(rawDateString);
 						if (!self.isInvalidDate(pd)) {
 							return pd;
 						}
diff --git a/test/datepicker-moment-test.js b/test/datepicker-moment-test.js
index bd1ebdb58..70c2f5c4e 100644
--- a/test/datepicker-moment-test.js
+++ b/test/datepicker-moment-test.js
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ define( function ( require ) {
 			assert.equal( date1, date2, "getValue alias matches getDate" );
 		} );
 
-		QUnit.test( "should set new date using setDate method", function( assert ) {
+		QUnit.test( "should set new date using setDate method passing a Date object", function( assert ) {
 			var $datepicker = $( html ).datepicker();
 			var newDate = new Date( 1987, 2, 31 );
 			var datepickerDate;
@@ -140,6 +140,18 @@ define( function ( require ) {
 			assert.equal( datepickerDate.getTime(), newDate.getTime(), "setDate method works" );
 		} );
 
+		QUnit.test( "should set new date using setDate method passing a ISO string", function( assert ) {
+			var $datepicker = $( html ).datepicker();
+			var dateString = '2015-05-29T04:00:00.000Z';
+			var newDate = new Date(dateString);
+			var datepickerDate;
+
+			$datepicker.datepicker( "setDate", dateString);
+			datepickerDate = $datepicker.datepicker( "getDate" );
+
+			assert.equal( datepickerDate.getTime(), newDate.getTime(), "setDate method works" );
+		} );
+
 		QUnit.test( "should enable/disable datepicker", function( assert ) {
 			var $datepicker = $( html ).datepicker();
 			var $datepickerInput = $datepicker.find( "input" );
diff --git a/test/datepicker-test.js b/test/datepicker-test.js
index 0022e44a0..05c8fb0e5 100644
--- a/test/datepicker-test.js
+++ b/test/datepicker-test.js
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ define(function( require ) {
 		assert.equal( date1, date2, "getValue alias matches getDate" );
 	} );
 
-	QUnit.test( "should set new date using setDate method", function( assert ) {
+	QUnit.test( "should set new date using setDate method passing a Date object", function( assert ) {
 		var $datepicker = $( html ).datepicker();
 		var newDate = new Date( 1987, 2, 31 );
 		var datepickerDate;
@@ -86,6 +86,18 @@ define(function( require ) {
 		assert.equal( datepickerDate.getTime(), newDate.getTime(), "setDate method works" );
 	} );
 
+	QUnit.test( "should set new date using setDate method passing a ISO string", function( assert ) {
+		var $datepicker = $( html ).datepicker();
+		var dateString = '2015-05-29T04:00:00.000Z';
+		var newDate = new Date(dateString);
+		var datepickerDate;
+
+		$datepicker.datepicker( "setDate", dateString);
+		datepickerDate = $datepicker.datepicker( "getDate" );
+
+		assert.equal( datepickerDate.getTime(), newDate.getTime(), "setDate method works" );
+	} );
+
 	QUnit.test( "should enable/disable datepicker", function( assert ) {
 		var $datepicker = $( html ).datepicker();
 		var $datepickerInput = $datepicker.find( "input" );