diff --git a/scsh/time.scm b/scsh/time.scm
index e6579b2..a5f88a3 100644
--- a/scsh/time.scm
+++ b/scsh/time.scm
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@
   fixnum) ; lo secs
 
 
-(define-foreign %date->time/errno (date2time (fixnum sec)
+(define-foreign %date->time/error (date2time (fixnum sec)
 					     (fixnum min)
 					     (fixnum hour)
 					     (fixnum month-day)
@@ -113,29 +113,32 @@
 					     (desc   tz-name)	; #f or string
 					     (desc   tz-secs)	; #f or int
 					     (bool   summer?))
-  desc	  ; errno or #f
+  desc	  ; errno, -1, or #f
   fixnum  ; hi secs
   fixnum) ; lo secs
 
 (define (time . args) ; optional arg [date]
   (let lp ()
     (receive (err hi-secs lo-secs)
-	(if (null? args)
-	    (%time/errno)		; Fast path for (time).
-	    (let ((date (check-arg date? (car args) time)))
-	      (%date->time/errno (date:seconds   date)
-				 (date:minute    date)
-				 (date:hour      date)
-				 (date:month-day date)
-				 (date:month     date)
-				 (date:year      date)
-				 (date:tz-name   date) ; #f or string
-				 (date:tz-secs   date) ; #f or int
-				 (date:summer?   date))))
+	(if (pair? args)
+	    (if (null? (cdr args))
+		(let ((date (check-arg date? (car args) time)))
+		  (%date->time/error (date:seconds   date)
+				     (date:minute    date)
+				     (date:hour      date)
+				     (date:month-day date)
+				     (date:month     date)
+				     (date:year      date)
+				     (date:tz-name   date) ; #f or string
+				     (date:tz-secs   date) ; #f or int
+				     (date:summer?   date)))
+		(error "Too many arguments to TIME procedure" args))
+	    (%time/errno))	; Fast path for (time).
 
-      (cond ((not err) (compose-8/24 hi-secs lo-secs))	; Win.
-	    ((= errno/intr err) (lp))			; Retry.
-	    (else (apply errno-error err time args)))))); Lose.
+      (cond ((not err) (compose-8/24 hi-secs lo-secs))	               ; Win.
+	    ((= errno/intr err) (lp))			               ; Retry.
+	    ((= -1 err) (error "Error converting date to time." args)) ; Lose.
+	    (else (apply errno-error err time args))))))               ; Lose.
 
 
 ;;; Date
diff --git a/scsh/time1.c b/scsh/time1.c
index cb99ddc..bfc0e7c 100644
--- a/scsh/time1.c
+++ b/scsh/time1.c
@@ -190,6 +190,18 @@ scheme_value time2date(int hi_secs, int lo_secs, scheme_value zone,
 }
 
 
+/* Oops
+** There's a fundamental problem with the Posix mktime() function used below
+** -- it's error return value (-1) is also a valid return value, for date
+**     11:59:00 UTC, 12/31/1969
+**
+** 1. We choose to err on the paranoid side. If mktime() returns -1, it is
+**    considered an error.
+** 2. If we return an error, we try to return a useful errno value, if we can.
+**
+** Who designed this interface?
+*/
+
 scheme_value date2time(int sec, int min, int hour,
 		       int mday, int month, int year,
 		       scheme_value tz_name, scheme_value tz_secs,
@@ -198,7 +210,6 @@ scheme_value date2time(int sec, int min, int hour,
 {
     time_t t;
     struct tm d;
-    int error = 0;
 
     d.tm_sec  = sec;	d.tm_min  = min;	d.tm_hour  = hour;
     d.tm_mday = mday;	d.tm_mon  = month;	d.tm_year  = year;
@@ -208,9 +219,11 @@ scheme_value date2time(int sec, int min, int hour,
 	char **oldenv = environ;			/* Set TZ to UTC     */
 	environ = utc_env;				/* time temporarily. */
 	tzset(); /* NetBSD, SunOS POSIX-noncompliance requires this. */
-	errno = 0;	/* A -1 ret value from mktime() might be legal; */
-	t = mktime(&d); /*   hack errno to disambiguate. Ugh.           */
-	if( t == -1 && errno ) error = errno;
+	d.tm_isdst = 0; /* FreeBSD, at least, needs this or it sulks. */
+	errno = 0;
+	t = mktime(&d);
+	/* t == -1 => you probably have an error. */
+	if( t == -1 ) return ENTER_FIXNUM(errno ? errno : -1);
 	t -= EXTRACT_FIXNUM(tz_secs);
 	environ = oldenv;
 	}
@@ -220,20 +233,19 @@ scheme_value date2time(int sec, int min, int hour,
 	char **oldenv = make_newenv(tz_name, newenv);
 	if( !oldenv ) return ENTER_FIXNUM(errno);
 	tzset(); /* NetBSD, SunOS POSIX-noncompliance requires this. */
-	errno = 0;	/* A -1 ret value from mktime() might be legal; */
-	t = mktime(&d); /*   hack errno to disambiguate. Ugh.           */
-	if( t == -1 && errno ) error = errno;
+	errno = 0;
+	t = mktime(&d);
+	if( t == -1 ) return ENTER_FIXNUM(errno ? errno : -1);
 	revert_env(oldenv);
 	}
 
     else {				/* Local time */
 	tzset(); /* NetBSD, SunOS POSIX-noncompliance requires this. */
+	errno = 0;
 	t = mktime(&d);
-	if( t == -1 && errno ) error = errno;
+	if( t == -1) return ENTER_FIXNUM(errno ? errno : -1);
 	}
 
-    if( error ) return ENTER_FIXNUM(error);
-
     *hi_secs = hi8(t);
     *lo_secs = lo24(t);
     return SCHFALSE;