diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index be55409c..f6b6dc2e 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -317,7 +317,6 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "gitolith-cli"
 version = "0.1.0"
 dependencies = [
- "chrono",
  "gitolith-core",
  "log",
  "pretty_env_logger",
diff --git a/gitolith-cli/Cargo.toml b/gitolith-cli/Cargo.toml
index 8f866d10..fcec6c8a 100644
--- a/gitolith-cli/Cargo.toml
+++ b/gitolith-cli/Cargo.toml
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ edition = "2018"
 gitolith-core = { path = "../gitolith-core" }
 pretty_env_logger = "0.4.0"
 log = "0.4.14"
-chrono = "0.4.19"
 
 [dependencies.structopt]
 version = "0.3"
diff --git a/gitolith-cli/src/main.rs b/gitolith-cli/src/main.rs
index e8c7230d..77ff7191 100644
--- a/gitolith-cli/src/main.rs
+++ b/gitolith-cli/src/main.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,6 @@
 mod args;
 
 use args::Opt;
-use chrono::{
-	DateTime,
-	NaiveDateTime,
-	Utc,
-};
 use gitolith_core::changelog::Changelog;
 use gitolith_core::commit::Commit;
 use gitolith_core::config::Config;
@@ -50,14 +45,8 @@ fn main() -> Result<()> {
 		if let Some(tag) = tags.get(&commit_id) {
 			release_root.releases[release_index].version = Some(tag.to_string());
 			release_root.releases[release_index].commit_id = Some(commit_id);
-			release_root.releases[release_index].date = Some(
-				DateTime::<Utc>::from_utc(
-					NaiveDateTime::from_timestamp(git_commit.time().seconds(), 0),
-					Utc,
-				)
-				.format(&config.changelog.date_format)
-				.to_string(),
-			);
+			release_root.releases[release_index].timestamp =
+				git_commit.time().seconds();
 			release_index += 1;
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/gitolith-core/src/config.rs b/gitolith-core/src/config.rs
index ba4d7a4e..ca5e868f 100644
--- a/gitolith-core/src/config.rs
+++ b/gitolith-core/src/config.rs
@@ -29,7 +29,6 @@ pub struct ChangelogConfig {
 	pub group_parsers: Vec<GroupParser>,
 	pub filter_group:  bool,
 	pub tag_pattern:   String,
-	pub date_format:   String,
 }
 
 /// Parser for grouping commits.
diff --git a/gitolith-core/src/release.rs b/gitolith-core/src/release.rs
index 68b14948..b24991a9 100644
--- a/gitolith-core/src/release.rs
+++ b/gitolith-core/src/release.rs
@@ -29,5 +29,5 @@ pub struct Release<'a> {
 	pub commits:   Vec<Commit<'a>>,
 	#[serde(rename = "commit_id")]
 	pub commit_id: Option<String>,
-	pub date:      Option<String>,
+	pub timestamp: i64,
 }
diff --git a/gitolith.toml b/gitolith.toml
index b74c7ed8..d278e7dc 100644
--- a/gitolith.toml
+++ b/gitolith.toml
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 # template for the changelog body
 # https://tera.netlify.app/docs/#introduction
 body = """
-## {% if version %}[{{ version }}] - {{ date }}{% else %}[unreleased]{% endif %}
+## {% if version %}[{{ version }}] - {{ timestamp | date(format="%Y-%m-%d") }}{% else %}[unreleased]{% endif %}
 {% for group, commits in commits | group_by(attribute="group") %}
 ### {{ group | capitalize}}
 {% for commit in commits %}
@@ -34,6 +34,3 @@ filter_group = false
 
 # glob pattern for matching tags
 tag_pattern = "v[0-9]*"
-
-# https://docs.rs/chrono/latest/chrono/format/strftime/index.html
-date_format = "%Y-%m-%d"