diff --git a/docs/changes.txt b/docs/changes.txt
index f66c739910..ed565aed01 100644
--- a/docs/changes.txt
+++ b/docs/changes.txt
@@ -94,6 +94,7 @@ Major new features in 2.8 release
 All:
 
 - Fixed bug with parsing some dates in wxDateTime (Bob Pesner)
+- Fixed bug with parsing negative time zones in wxDateTime::ParseRfc822Date()
 
 All (GUI):
 
diff --git a/include/wx/datetime.h b/include/wx/datetime.h
index 1f7074ee04..dd409690b7 100644
--- a/include/wx/datetime.h
+++ b/include/wx/datetime.h
@@ -421,8 +421,21 @@ public:
     {
     public:
         TimeZone(TZ tz);
+
+        // don't use this ctor, it doesn't work for negative offsets (but can't
+        // be removed or changed to avoid breaking ABI in 2.8)
         TimeZone(wxDateTime_t offset = 0) { m_offset = offset; }
 
+#if wxABI_VERSION >= 20808
+        // create time zone object with the given offset
+        static TimeZone Make(long offset)
+        {
+            TimeZone tz;
+            tz.m_offset = offset;
+            return tz;
+        }
+#endif // wxABI 2.8.8+
+
         long GetOffset() const { return m_offset; }
 
     private:
diff --git a/src/common/datetime.cpp b/src/common/datetime.cpp
index c7f2fd6b33..109e3e712b 100644
--- a/src/common/datetime.cpp
+++ b/src/common/datetime.cpp
@@ -3000,7 +3000,7 @@ const wxChar *wxDateTime::ParseRfc822Date(const wxChar* date)
 
     // the spec was correct, construct the date from the values we found
     Set(day, mon, year, hour, min, sec);
-    MakeFromTimezone(TimeZone((wxDateTime_t)(offset*SEC_PER_MIN)));
+    MakeFromTimezone(TimeZone::Make(offset*SEC_PER_MIN));
 
     return p;
 }
diff --git a/tests/datetime/datetimetest.cpp b/tests/datetime/datetimetest.cpp
index db64b5c53e..935d58109d 100644
--- a/tests/datetime/datetimetest.cpp
+++ b/tests/datetime/datetimetest.cpp
@@ -748,17 +748,23 @@ void DateTimeTestCase::TestParceRFC822()
     {
         {
             _T("Sat, 18 Dec 1999 00:46:40 +0100"),
-            { 17, wxDateTime::Dec, 1999, 23, 46, 40, 0.0, wxDateTime::Inv_WeekDay, 0, 0 },
+            { 17, wxDateTime::Dec, 1999, 23, 46, 40 },
             true
         },
         {
             _T("Wed, 1 Dec 1999 05:17:20 +0300"),
-            {  1, wxDateTime::Dec, 1999, 2, 17, 20, 0.0, wxDateTime::Inv_WeekDay, 0, 0 },
+            {  1, wxDateTime::Dec, 1999, 2, 17, 20 },
             true
         },
         {
             _T("Sun, 28 Aug 2005 03:31:30 +0200"),
-            {  28, wxDateTime::Aug, 2005, 1, 31, 30, 0.0, wxDateTime::Inv_WeekDay, 0, 0 },
+            {  28, wxDateTime::Aug, 2005, 1, 31, 30 },
+            true
+        },
+
+        {
+            _T("Sat, 18 Dec 1999 10:48:30 -0500"),
+            {  18, wxDateTime::Dec, 1999, 15, 48, 30 },
             true
         },
     };
diff --git a/version-script.in b/version-script.in
index 5969a82a8e..533a792ab3 100644
--- a/version-script.in
+++ b/version-script.in
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 # public symbols added in 2.8.8 (please keep in alphabetical order):
 @WX_VERSION_TAG@.8 {
     global:
+        *TimeZone*Make*;
         *wxScrollHelper*HandleOnChildFocus*;
         *wxWindowBase*Get*Sibling*;
 };