diff --git a/include/wx/variant.h b/include/wx/variant.h
index 72db3faae9..4ddfbc10fa 100644
--- a/include/wx/variant.h
+++ b/include/wx/variant.h
@@ -268,7 +268,7 @@ public:
     void ClearList();
 
 // Implementation
-protected:
+public:
 // Type conversion
     bool Convert(long* value) const;
     bool Convert(bool* value) const;
diff --git a/src/common/variant.cpp b/src/common/variant.cpp
index defe41807f..48d54c7ec1 100644
--- a/src/common/variant.cpp
+++ b/src/common/variant.cpp
@@ -2244,9 +2244,11 @@ bool wxVariant::Convert(wxDateTime* value) const
 {
     wxString type(GetType());
     if (type == wxT("datetime"))
+    {
         *value = ((wxVariantDataDateTime*)GetData())->GetValue();
-    else
-        return FALSE;
-
-    return TRUE;
+    	return TRUE;
+    } 
+    // Fallback to string conversion
+    wxString val;
+    return Convert(&val) && (value->ParseDate(val));
 }