diff --git a/packages/string-templates/src/index.cjs b/packages/string-templates/src/index.cjs
index e662f253c6..b62521942a 100644
--- a/packages/string-templates/src/index.cjs
+++ b/packages/string-templates/src/index.cjs
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ const processors = require("./processors")
 const { cloneDeep } = require("lodash/fp")
 const {
   removeNull,
-  addConstants,
+  updateContext,
   removeHandlebarsStatements,
 } = require("./utilities")
 const manifest = require("../manifest.json")
@@ -92,8 +92,7 @@ module.exports.processStringSync = (string, context) => {
   }
   // take a copy of input incase error
   const input = string
-  let clonedContext = removeNull(cloneDeep(context))
-  clonedContext = addConstants(clonedContext)
+  const clonedContext = removeNull(updateContext(cloneDeep(context)))
   // remove any null/undefined properties
   if (typeof string !== "string") {
     throw "Cannot process non-string types."
diff --git a/packages/string-templates/src/utilities.js b/packages/string-templates/src/utilities.js
index 38496b04b4..e96ef2956e 100644
--- a/packages/string-templates/src/utilities.js
+++ b/packages/string-templates/src/utilities.js
@@ -23,11 +23,24 @@ module.exports.removeNull = obj => {
   return obj
 }
 
-module.exports.addConstants = obj => {
+module.exports.updateContext = obj => {
   if (obj.now == null) {
-    obj.now = new Date()
+    obj.now = (new Date()).toISOString()
   }
-  return obj
+  function recurse(obj) {
+    for (let key of Object.keys(obj)) {
+      if (!obj[key]) {
+        continue
+      }
+      if (obj[key] instanceof Date) {
+        obj[key] = obj[key].toISOString()
+      } else if (typeof obj[key] === "object") {
+        obj[key] = recurse(obj[key])
+      }
+    }
+    return obj
+  }
+  return recurse(obj)
 }
 
 module.exports.removeHandlebarsStatements = string => {
diff --git a/packages/string-templates/test/basic.spec.js b/packages/string-templates/test/basic.spec.js
index 5732181b13..f5c7c8be75 100644
--- a/packages/string-templates/test/basic.spec.js
+++ b/packages/string-templates/test/basic.spec.js
@@ -107,6 +107,12 @@ describe("check the utility functions", () => {
     const property = makePropSafe("thing")
     expect(property).toEqual("[thing]")
   })
+
+  it("should be able to handle an input date object", async () => {
+    const date = new Date()
+    const output = await processString("{{ dateObj }}", { dateObj: date })
+    expect(date.toISOString()).toEqual(output)
+  })
 })
 
 describe("check manifest", () => {