diff --git a/search/query/date_range.go b/search/query/date_range.go
index 87064669..be69a70a 100644
--- a/search/query/date_range.go
+++ b/search/query/date_range.go
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ func queryTimeFromString(t string) (time.Time, error) {
 
 func (t *BleveQueryTime) MarshalJSON() ([]byte, error) {
 	tt := time.Time(t.Time)
-	return []byte(tt.Format(QueryDateTimeFormat)), nil
+	return []byte("\"" + tt.Format(QueryDateTimeFormat) + "\""), nil
 }
 
 func (t *BleveQueryTime) UnmarshalJSON(data []byte) error {
diff --git a/search/query/date_range_test.go b/search/query/date_range_test.go
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9dd69131
--- /dev/null
+++ b/search/query/date_range_test.go
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+//  Copyright (c) 2016 Couchbase, Inc.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+// 		http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package query
+
+import (
+	"encoding/json"
+	"testing"
+	"time"
+)
+
+func TestBleveQueryTime(t *testing.T) {
+	testTimes := []time.Time{
+		time.Now(),
+		time.Time{},
+	}
+
+	for i, testTime := range testTimes {
+		bqt := &BleveQueryTime{testTime}
+
+		buf, err := json.Marshal(bqt)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("expected no err")
+		}
+
+		var bqt2 BleveQueryTime
+		err = json.Unmarshal(buf, &bqt2)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Errorf("expected no unmarshal err, got: %v", err)
+		}
+
+		if bqt.Time.Format(time.RFC3339) != bqt2.Time.Format(time.RFC3339) {
+			t.Errorf("test %d - expected same time, %#v != %#v", i, bqt.Time, bqt2.Time)
+		}
+
+		if testTime.Format(time.RFC3339) != bqt2.Time.Format(time.RFC3339) {
+			t.Errorf("test %d - expected orig time, %#v != %#v", i, testTime, bqt2.Time)
+		}
+	}
+}