diff --git a/addons/mail/models/mail_template.py b/addons/mail/models/mail_template.py
index 0576bd66db7..6ca8141eb3a 100644
--- a/addons/mail/models/mail_template.py
+++ b/addons/mail/models/mail_template.py
@@ -20,17 +20,10 @@ _logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
 
 def format_date(env, date, pattern=False):
-    date = datetime.datetime.strptime(date[:10], tools.DEFAULT_SERVER_DATE_FORMAT)
-    lang_code = env.context.get('lang') or 'en_US'
-    if not pattern:
-        lang = env['res.lang']._lang_get(lang_code)
-        pattern = lang.date_format
     try:
-        locale = babel.Locale.parse(lang_code)
-        pattern = tools.posix_to_ldml(pattern, locale=locale)
-        return babel.dates.format_date(date, format=pattern, locale=locale)
+        return tools.format_date(env, date, date_format=pattern)
     except babel.core.UnknownLocaleError:
-        return date.strftime(pattern)
+        return date
 
 
 def format_tz(env, dt, tz=False, format=False):
diff --git a/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_qweb/fields.py b/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_qweb/fields.py
index c7dadb1ce8f..1c39695747c 100644
--- a/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_qweb/fields.py
+++ b/odoo/addons/base/ir/ir_qweb/fields.py
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ from odoo import api, fields, models, _
 from PIL import Image
 from cStringIO import StringIO
 import babel
-from odoo.tools import html_escape as escape, posix_to_ldml, safe_eval, float_utils
+from odoo.tools import html_escape as escape, posix_to_ldml, safe_eval, float_utils, format_date
 from .qweb import unicodifier
 
 import logging
@@ -167,21 +167,7 @@ class DateConverter(models.AbstractModel):
 
     @api.model
     def value_to_html(self, value, options):
-        if not value or len(value) < 10:
-            return ''
-        lang = self.user_lang()
-        locale = babel.Locale.parse(lang.code)
-
-        if isinstance(value, basestring):
-            value = fields.Datetime.from_string(value[:10])
-
-        if options and 'format' in options:
-            pattern = options['format']
-        else:
-            strftime_pattern = lang.date_format
-            pattern = posix_to_ldml(strftime_pattern, locale=locale)
-
-        return babel.dates.format_date(value, format=pattern, locale=locale)
+        return format_date(self.env, value, date_format=(options or {}).get('format'))
 
 
 class DateTimeConverter(models.AbstractModel):