diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/4archive.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/4archive.py
index 4c434643..6a4d0c69 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/4archive.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/4archive.py
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 """Extractors for https://4archive.org/"""
 
 from .common import Extractor, Message
-from .. import text, util
+from .. import text, dt
 
 
 class _4archiveThreadExtractor(Extractor):
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ class _4archiveThreadExtractor(Extractor):
 
         for post in posts:
             post.update(data)
-            post["time"] = int(util.datetime_to_timestamp(post["date"]))
+            post["time"] = int(dt.to_ts(post["date"]))
             yield Message.Directory, post
             if "url" in post:
                 yield Message.Url, post["url"], text.nameext_from_url(
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/8chan.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/8chan.py
index 03850676..6524821b 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/8chan.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/8chan.py
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@
 """Extractors for https://8chan.moe/"""
 
 from .common import Extractor, Message
-from .. import text, util
+from .. import text, dt
 from ..cache import memcache
-from datetime import timedelta
 import itertools
 
 BASE_PATTERN = r"(?:https?://)?8chan\.(moe|se|cc)"
@@ -44,7 +43,7 @@ class _8chanExtractor(Extractor):
     def cookies_prepare(self):
         # fetch captcha cookies
         # (necessary to download without getting interrupted)
-        now = util.datetime_utcnow()
+        now = dt.now()
         url = self.root + "/captcha.js"
         params = {"d": now.strftime("%a %b %d %Y %H:%M:%S GMT+0000 (UTC)")}
         self.request(url, params=params).content
@@ -57,7 +56,7 @@ class _8chanExtractor(Extractor):
             if cookie.domain.endswith(domain):
                 cookie.expires = None
                 if cookie.name == "captchaexpiration":
-                    cookie.value = (now + timedelta(30, 300)).strftime(
+                    cookie.value = (now + dt.timedelta(30, 300)).strftime(
                         "%a, %d %b %Y %H:%M:%S GMT")
 
         return self.cookies
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/common.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/common.py
index 34e65c5c..83cb7a50 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/common.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/common.py
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ from datetime import datetime
 from xml.etree import ElementTree
 from requests.adapters import HTTPAdapter
 from .message import Message
-from .. import config, output, text, util, cache, exception
+from .. import config, output, text, util, dt, cache, exception
 urllib3 = requests.packages.urllib3
 
 
@@ -315,7 +315,7 @@ class Extractor():
         elif until:
             if isinstance(until, datetime):
                 # convert to UTC timestamp
-                until = util.datetime_to_timestamp(until)
+                until = dt.to_ts(until)
             else:
                 until = float(until)
             seconds = until - now
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/deviantart.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/deviantart.py
index 39690da2..64b23594 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/deviantart.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/deviantart.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 """Extractors for https://www.deviantart.com/"""
 
 from .common import Extractor, Message, Dispatch
-from .. import text, util, exception
+from .. import text, util, dt, exception
 from ..cache import cache, memcache
 import collections
 import mimetypes
@@ -1187,8 +1187,8 @@ class DeviantartStatusExtractor(DeviantartExtractor):
             deviation["username"] = deviation["author"]["username"]
             deviation["_username"] = deviation["username"].lower()
 
-        deviation["date"] = dt = text.parse_datetime(deviation["ts"])
-        deviation["published_time"] = int(util.datetime_to_timestamp(dt))
+        deviation["date"] = d = text.parse_datetime(deviation["ts"])
+        deviation["published_time"] = int(dt.to_ts(d))
 
         deviation["da_category"] = "Status"
         deviation["category_path"] = "status"
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/motherless.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/motherless.py
index 48137ced..cadf8988 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/motherless.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/motherless.py
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@
 """Extractors for https://motherless.com/"""
 
 from .common import Extractor, Message
-from .. import text, util, exception
+from .. import text, dt, exception
 from ..cache import memcache
-from datetime import timedelta
 
 BASE_PATTERN = r"(?:https?://)?motherless\.com"
 
@@ -115,14 +114,14 @@ class MotherlessExtractor(Extractor):
 
         return data
 
-    def _parse_datetime(self, dt):
-        if " ago" not in dt:
-            return text.parse_datetime(dt, "%d  %b  %Y")
+    def _parse_datetime(self, dt_string):
+        if " ago" not in dt_string:
+            return dt.parse(dt_string, "%d  %b  %Y")
 
-        value = text.parse_int(dt[:-5])
-        delta = timedelta(0, value*3600) if dt[-5] == "h" else timedelta(value)
-        return (util.datetime_utcnow() - delta).replace(
-            hour=0, minute=0, second=0)
+        value = text.parse_int(dt_string[:-5])
+        delta = (dt.timedelta(0, value*3600) if dt_string[-5] == "h" else
+                 dt.timedelta(value))
+        return (dt.now() - delta).replace(hour=0, minute=0, second=0)
 
     @memcache(keyarg=2)
     def _extract_gallery_title(self, page, gallery_id):
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/patreon.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/patreon.py
index cf1a6d61..552b3856 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/patreon.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/patreon.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 """Extractors for https://www.patreon.com/"""
 
 from .common import Extractor, Message
-from .. import text, util, exception
+from .. import text, util, dt, exception
 from ..cache import memcache
 import collections
 import itertools
@@ -445,8 +445,7 @@ class PatreonUserExtractor(PatreonExtractor):
 
     def posts(self):
         if date_max := self._get_date_min_max(None, None)[1]:
-            self._cursor = cursor = \
-                util.datetime_from_timestamp(date_max).isoformat()
+            self._cursor = cursor = dt.from_ts(date_max).isoformat()
             self._init_cursor = lambda: cursor
 
         url = self._build_url("stream", (
diff --git a/gallery_dl/extractor/pixiv.py b/gallery_dl/extractor/pixiv.py
index 6276a2ad..c4391f0f 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/extractor/pixiv.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/extractor/pixiv.py
@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@
 """Extractors for https://www.pixiv.net/"""
 
 from .common import Extractor, Message, Dispatch
-from .. import text, util, exception
+from .. import text, util, dt, exception
 from ..cache import cache, memcache
-from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 import itertools
 import hashlib
 
@@ -96,7 +95,7 @@ class PixivExtractor(Extractor):
             if transform_tags:
                 transform_tags(work)
             work["num"] = 0
-            work["date"] = text.parse_datetime(work["create_date"])
+            work["date"] = dt.parse_iso(work["create_date"])
             work["rating"] = ratings.get(work["x_restrict"])
             work["suffix"] = ""
             work.update(metadata)
@@ -350,10 +349,10 @@ class PixivExtractor(Extractor):
             if fmt in urls:
                 yield urls[fmt]
 
-    def _date_from_url(self, url, offset=timedelta(hours=9)):
+    def _date_from_url(self, url, offset=dt.timedelta(hours=9)):
         try:
             _, _, _, _, _, y, m, d, H, M, S, _ = url.split("/")
-            return datetime(
+            return dt.datetime(
                 int(y), int(m), int(d), int(H), int(M), int(S)) - offset
         except Exception:
             return None
@@ -712,8 +711,7 @@ class PixivRankingExtractor(PixivExtractor):
                 self.log.warning("invalid date '%s'", date)
                 date = None
         if not date:
-            now = util.datetime_utcnow()
-            date = (now - timedelta(days=1)).strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
+            date = (dt.now() - dt.timedelta(days=1)).strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
         self.date = date
 
         self.type = type = query.get("content")
@@ -888,8 +886,7 @@ class PixivSketchExtractor(Extractor):
         for post in self.posts():
             media = post["media"]
             post["post_id"] = post["id"]
-            post["date"] = text.parse_datetime(
-                post["created_at"], "%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S.%f%z")
+            post["date"] = dt.parse_iso(post["created_at"])
             util.delete_items(post, ("id", "media", "_links"))
 
             yield Message.Directory, post
@@ -969,7 +966,7 @@ class PixivNovelExtractor(PixivExtractor):
             if transform_tags:
                 transform_tags(novel)
             novel["num"] = 0
-            novel["date"] = text.parse_datetime(novel["create_date"])
+            novel["date"] = dt.parse_iso(novel["create_date"])
             novel["rating"] = ratings.get(novel["x_restrict"])
             novel["suffix"] = ""
 
@@ -1151,7 +1148,7 @@ class PixivAppAPI():
             "get_secure_url": "1",
         }
 
-        time = util.datetime_utcnow().strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S+00:00")
+        time = dt.now().strftime("%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S+00:00")
         headers = {
             "X-Client-Time": time,
             "X-Client-Hash": hashlib.md5(
@@ -1326,11 +1323,11 @@ class PixivAppAPI():
         sort = params["sort"]
         if sort == "date_desc":
             date_key = "end_date"
-            date_off = timedelta(days=1)
+            date_off = dt.timedelta(days=1)
             date_cmp = lambda lhs, rhs: lhs >= rhs  # noqa E731
         elif sort == "date_asc":
             date_key = "start_date"
-            date_off = timedelta(days=-1)
+            date_off = dt.timedelta(days=-1)
             date_cmp = lambda lhs, rhs: lhs <= rhs  # noqa E731
         else:
             date_key = None
@@ -1357,8 +1354,8 @@ class PixivAppAPI():
 
             if date_key and text.parse_int(params.get("offset")) >= 5000:
                 date_last = data["illusts"][-1]["create_date"]
-                date_val = (text.parse_datetime(
-                    date_last) + date_off).strftime("%Y-%m-%d")
+                date_val = (dt.parse_iso(date_last) + date_off).strftime(
+                    "%Y-%m-%d")
                 self.log.info("Reached 'offset' >= 5000; "
                               "Updating '%s' to '%s'", date_key, date_val)
                 params[date_key] = date_val
diff --git a/gallery_dl/formatter.py b/gallery_dl/formatter.py
index 5246f663..39a5e4e2 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/formatter.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/formatter.py
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ import string
 import _string
 import datetime
 import operator
-from . import text, util
+from . import text, util, dt
 
 NONE = util.NONE
 
@@ -68,8 +68,8 @@ class StringFormatter():
     - "g": calls text.slugify()
     - "j": calls json.dumps
     - "t": calls str.strip
-    - "T": calls util.datetime_to_timestamp_string()
-    - "d": calls text.parse_timestamp
+    - "T": calls dt.to_ts_string()
+    - "d": calls dt.parse_ts()
     - "s": calls str()
     - "S": calls util.to_string()
     - "U": calls urllib.parse.unescape
@@ -471,9 +471,9 @@ def _parse_datetime(format_spec, default):
     dt_format = dt_format[1:]
     fmt = _build_format_func(format_spec, default)
 
-    def dt(obj):
-        return fmt(text.parse_datetime(obj, dt_format))
-    return dt
+    def dt_parse(obj):
+        return fmt(dt.parse(obj, dt_format))
+    return dt_parse
 
 
 def _parse_offset(format_spec, default):
@@ -482,9 +482,9 @@ def _parse_offset(format_spec, default):
     fmt = _build_format_func(format_spec, default)
 
     if not offset or offset == "local":
-        def off(dt):
-            local = time.localtime(util.datetime_to_timestamp(dt))
-            return fmt(dt + datetime.timedelta(0, local.tm_gmtoff))
+        def off(dt_utc):
+            local = time.localtime(dt.to_ts(dt_utc))
+            return fmt(dt_utc + datetime.timedelta(0, local.tm_gmtoff))
     else:
         hours, _, minutes = offset.partition(":")
         offset = 3600 * int(hours)
@@ -569,9 +569,9 @@ _CONVERSIONS = {
     "t": str.strip,
     "n": len,
     "L": util.code_to_language,
-    "T": util.datetime_to_timestamp_string,
-    "d": text.parse_timestamp,
-    "D": util.to_datetime,
+    "T": dt.to_ts_string,
+    "d": dt.parse_ts,
+    "D": dt.convert,
     "U": text.unescape,
     "H": lambda s: text.unescape(text.remove_html(s)),
     "g": text.slugify,
diff --git a/gallery_dl/postprocessor/mtime.py b/gallery_dl/postprocessor/mtime.py
index b1269dd5..7d4796e7 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/postprocessor/mtime.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/postprocessor/mtime.py
@@ -9,8 +9,7 @@
 """Use metadata as file modification time"""
 
 from .common import PostProcessor
-from .. import text, util, formatter
-from datetime import datetime
+from .. import text, util, dt, formatter
 
 
 class MtimePP(PostProcessor):
@@ -36,8 +35,8 @@ class MtimePP(PostProcessor):
             return
 
         pathfmt.kwdict["_mtime_meta"] = (
-            util.datetime_to_timestamp(mtime)
-            if isinstance(mtime, datetime) else
+            dt.to_ts(mtime)
+            if isinstance(mtime, dt.datetime) else
             text.parse_int(mtime)
         )
 
diff --git a/gallery_dl/util.py b/gallery_dl/util.py
index 49c1ba8e..7fc3363c 100644
--- a/gallery_dl/util.py
+++ b/gallery_dl/util.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ import random
 import getpass
 import hashlib
 import binascii
-import datetime
 import functools
 import itertools
 import subprocess
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ import collections
 import urllib.parse
 from http.cookiejar import Cookie
 from email.utils import mktime_tz, parsedate_tz
-from . import text, version, exception
+from . import text, dt, version, exception
 
 
 def bencode(num, alphabet="0123456789"):
@@ -228,63 +227,6 @@ def to_string(value):
     return str(value)
 
 
-def to_datetime(value):
-    """Convert 'value' to a datetime object"""
-    if not value:
-        return EPOCH
-
-    if isinstance(value, datetime.datetime):
-        return value
-
-    if isinstance(value, str):
-        try:
-            if value[-1] == "Z":
-                # compat for Python < 3.11
-                value = value[:-1]
-            dt = datetime.datetime.fromisoformat(value)
-            if dt.tzinfo is None:
-                if dt.microsecond:
-                    dt = dt.replace(microsecond=0)
-            else:
-                # convert to naive UTC
-                dt = dt.astimezone(datetime.timezone.utc).replace(
-                    microsecond=0, tzinfo=None)
-            return dt
-        except Exception:
-            pass
-
-    return text.parse_timestamp(value, EPOCH)
-
-
-def datetime_to_timestamp(dt):
-    """Convert naive UTC datetime to Unix timestamp"""
-    return (dt - EPOCH) / SECOND
-
-
-def datetime_to_timestamp_string(dt):
-    """Convert naive UTC datetime to Unix timestamp string"""
-    try:
-        return str((dt - EPOCH) // SECOND)
-    except Exception:
-        return ""
-
-
-if sys.hexversion < 0x30c0000:
-    # Python <= 3.11
-    datetime_utcfromtimestamp = datetime.datetime.utcfromtimestamp
-    datetime_utcnow = datetime.datetime.utcnow
-    datetime_from_timestamp = datetime_utcfromtimestamp
-else:
-    # Python >= 3.12
-    def datetime_from_timestamp(ts=None):
-        """Convert Unix timestamp to naive UTC datetime"""
-        Y, m, d, H, M, S, _, _, _ = time.gmtime(ts)
-        return datetime.datetime(Y, m, d, H, M, S)
-
-    datetime_utcfromtimestamp = datetime_from_timestamp
-    datetime_utcnow = datetime_from_timestamp
-
-
 def json_default(obj):
     if isinstance(obj, CustomNone):
         return None
@@ -379,7 +321,7 @@ def extract_headers(response):
             text.nameext_from_url(name, data)
 
     if hlm := headers.get("last-modified"):
-        data["date"] = datetime.datetime(*parsedate_tz(hlm)[:6])
+        data["date"] = dt.datetime(*parsedate_tz(hlm)[:6])
 
     return data
 
@@ -751,11 +693,11 @@ class Flags():
 # 735506 == 739342 - 137 * 28
 # v135.0 release of Chrome  on 2025-04-01 has ordinal 739342
 # 735562 == 739342 - 135 * 28
-#  _ord_today = datetime.date.today().toordinal()
+#  _ord_today = dt.date.today().toordinal()
 #  _ff_ver = (_ord_today - 735506) // 28
 #  _ch_ver = (_ord_today - 735562) // 28
 
-_ff_ver = (datetime.date.today().toordinal() - 735506) // 28
+_ff_ver = (dt.date.today().toordinal() - 735506) // 28
 #  _ch_ver = _ff_ver - 2
 
 re = text.re
@@ -763,8 +705,6 @@ re_compile = text.re_compile
 
 NONE = CustomNone()
 FLAGS = Flags()
-EPOCH = datetime.datetime(1970, 1, 1)
-SECOND = datetime.timedelta(0, 1)
 WINDOWS = (os.name == "nt")
 SENTINEL = object()
 EXECUTABLE = getattr(sys, "frozen", False)
@@ -786,8 +726,8 @@ GLOBALS = {
     "contains" : contains,
     "parse_int": text.parse_int,
     "urlsplit" : urllib.parse.urlsplit,
-    "datetime" : datetime.datetime,
-    "timedelta": datetime.timedelta,
+    "datetime" : dt.datetime,
+    "timedelta": dt.timedelta,
     "abort"    : raises(exception.StopExtraction),
     "error"    : raises(exception.AbortExtraction),
     "terminate": raises(exception.TerminateExtraction),
diff --git a/test/results/pixiv.py b/test/results/pixiv.py
index 19dbb601..0e763f62 100644
--- a/test/results/pixiv.py
+++ b/test/results/pixiv.py
@@ -668,6 +668,8 @@ __tests__ = (
     "#class"   : pixiv.PixivSketchExtractor,
     "#pattern" : r"https://img\-sketch\.pixiv\.net/uploads/medium/file/\d+/\d+\.(jpg|png)",
     "#count"   : ">= 35",
+
+    "date": "type:datetime",
 },
 
 )
diff --git a/test/test_extractor.py b/test/test_extractor.py
index a623e1dc..cc06c47c 100644
--- a/test/test_extractor.py
+++ b/test/test_extractor.py
@@ -14,10 +14,9 @@ from unittest.mock import patch
 
 import time
 import string
-from datetime import datetime, timedelta
 
 sys.path.insert(0, os.path.dirname(os.path.dirname(os.path.abspath(__file__))))
-from gallery_dl import extractor, util  # noqa E402
+from gallery_dl import extractor, util, dt  # noqa E402
 from gallery_dl.extractor import mastodon  # noqa E402
 from gallery_dl.extractor.common import Extractor, Message  # noqa E402
 from gallery_dl.extractor.directlink import DirectlinkExtractor  # noqa E402
@@ -233,8 +232,8 @@ class TestExtractorWait(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_wait_until_datetime(self):
         extr = extractor.find("generic:https://example.org/")
-        until = util.datetime_utcnow() + timedelta(seconds=5)
-        until_local = datetime.now() + timedelta(seconds=5)
+        until = dt.now() + dt.timedelta(seconds=5)
+        until_local = dt.datetime.now() + dt.timedelta(seconds=5)
 
         if not until.microsecond:
             until = until.replace(microsecond=until_local.microsecond)
@@ -251,8 +250,8 @@ class TestExtractorWait(unittest.TestCase):
             self._assert_isotime(calls[0][1][1], until_local)
 
     def _assert_isotime(self, output, until):
-        if not isinstance(until, datetime):
-            until = datetime.fromtimestamp(until)
+        if not isinstance(until, dt.datetime):
+            until = dt.datetime.fromtimestamp(until)
         o = self._isotime_to_seconds(output)
         u = self._isotime_to_seconds(until.time().isoformat()[:8])
         self.assertLessEqual(o-u, 1.0)
diff --git a/test/test_formatter.py b/test/test_formatter.py
index 01e3a88e..7a286190 100644
--- a/test/test_formatter.py
+++ b/test/test_formatter.py
@@ -271,8 +271,8 @@ class TestFormatter(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_specifier_datetime(self):
         self._run_test("{ds:D%Y-%m-%dT%H:%M:%S%z}", "2010-01-01 00:00:00")
-        self._run_test("{ds:D%Y}", "2010-01-01T01:00:00+01:00")
-        self._run_test("{l:D%Y}", "None")
+        self._run_test("{ds:D%Y}", "1970-01-01 00:00:00")
+        self._run_test("{l:D%Y}", "1970-01-01 00:00:00")
 
     def test_specifier_offset(self):
         self._run_test("{dt:O 01:00}", "2010-01-01 01:00:00")