diff --git a/base/dsfs/compute_fields.go b/base/dsfs/compute_fields.go
index aa3e205c3..46945ef42 100644
--- a/base/dsfs/compute_fields.go
+++ b/base/dsfs/compute_fields.go
@@ -168,8 +168,12 @@ func (cff *computeFieldsFile) handleRows(ctx context.Context) {
 	}
 
 	cff.Lock()
-	// assign timestamp early. saving process on large files can take many minutes
-	cff.ds.Commit.Timestamp = Timestamp()
+	if cff.ds.Commit.Timestamp.IsZero() {
+		// assign timestamp early. saving process on large files can take many minutes
+		cff.ds.Commit.Timestamp = Timestamp()
+	} else {
+		cff.ds.Commit.Timestamp = cff.ds.Commit.Timestamp.In(time.UTC)
+	}
 	cff.acc = dsstats.NewAccumulator(st)
 	cff.Unlock()
 
diff --git a/base/dsfs/dataset.go b/base/dsfs/dataset.go
index d6f07dca0..4b388932f 100644
--- a/base/dsfs/dataset.go
+++ b/base/dsfs/dataset.go
@@ -111,6 +111,8 @@ func DerefDataset(ctx context.Context, store qfs.Filesystem, ds *dataset.Dataset
 
 // SaveSwitches represents options for saving a dataset
 type SaveSwitches struct {
+	// Use a custom timestamp, defaults to time.Now if unset
+	Time time.Time
 	// Replace is whether the save is a full replacement or a set of patches to previous
 	Replace bool
 	// Pin is whether the dataset should be pinned
diff --git a/base/dsfs/dataset_test.go b/base/dsfs/dataset_test.go
index 4226f2749..19c073a2f 100644
--- a/base/dsfs/dataset_test.go
+++ b/base/dsfs/dataset_test.go
@@ -112,7 +112,6 @@ func TestLoadDataset(t *testing.T) {
 			continue
 		}
 	}
-
 }
 
 func TestCreateDataset(t *testing.T) {
@@ -297,6 +296,34 @@ func TestCreateDataset(t *testing.T) {
 	// case: previous dataset isn't valid
 }
 
+func TestDatasetSaveCustomTimestamp(t *testing.T) {
+	ctx := context.Background()
+	fs := qfs.NewMemFS()
+	privKey := testPeers.GetTestPeerInfo(10).PrivKey
+
+	// use a custom timestamp in local zone. should be converted to UTC for saving
+	ts := time.Date(2100, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, time.Local)
+
+	ds := &dataset.Dataset{
+		Commit: &dataset.Commit{
+			Timestamp: ts,
+		},
+		Structure: &dataset.Structure{Format: "json", Schema: dataset.BaseSchemaArray},
+	}
+	ds.SetBodyFile(qfs.NewMemfileBytes("/body.json", []byte(`[]`)))
+
+	path, err := CreateDataset(ctx, fs, fs, ds, nil, privKey, SaveSwitches{})
+	if err != nil {
+		t.Fatal(err)
+	}
+
+	got, err := LoadDataset(ctx, fs, path)
+
+	if !ts.In(time.UTC).Equal(got.Commit.Timestamp) {
+		t.Errorf("result timestamp mismatch.\nwant: %q\ngot:  %q", ts.In(time.UTC), got.Commit.Timestamp)
+	}
+}
+
 // BaseTabularSchema is the base schema for tabular data
 // NOTE: Do not use if possible, prefer github.com/qri-io/dataset/tabular
 // TODO(dustmop): Possibly move this to tabular package
diff --git a/cmd/testdata/movies/dataset.json b/cmd/testdata/movies/dataset.json
index 4c663e4f8..e35d75a52 100644
--- a/cmd/testdata/movies/dataset.json
+++ b/cmd/testdata/movies/dataset.json
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
   },
   "commit": {
     "qri": "cm:0",
-    "timestamp": "2017-03-01T01:00:00.000Z",
     "title": "removing rows",
     "message": "removing rows for test purposes"
   },
diff --git a/repo/test/testdata/cities/input.dataset.json b/repo/test/testdata/cities/input.dataset.json
index 42a8ecf42..b23a93bd9 100644
--- a/repo/test/testdata/cities/input.dataset.json
+++ b/repo/test/testdata/cities/input.dataset.json
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
   "qri": "ds:0",
   "commit": {
     "qri": "cm:0",
-    "timestamp": "2017-01-01T01:00:00.000Z",
     "title": "initial commit"
   },
   "meta": {
diff --git a/repo/test/testdata/counter/input.dataset.json b/repo/test/testdata/counter/input.dataset.json
index a352c68fd..95de81181 100644
--- a/repo/test/testdata/counter/input.dataset.json
+++ b/repo/test/testdata/counter/input.dataset.json
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
   "qri": "ds:0",
   "commit": {
     "qri": "cm:0",
-    "timestamp": "2017-02-01T01:00:00.000Z",
     "title": "initial commit"
   },
   "meta": {
diff --git a/repo/test/testdata/craigslist/input.dataset.json b/repo/test/testdata/craigslist/input.dataset.json
index f97cc322a..2784abb06 100755
--- a/repo/test/testdata/craigslist/input.dataset.json
+++ b/repo/test/testdata/craigslist/input.dataset.json
@@ -2,8 +2,7 @@
   "qri": "ds:0",
   "commit" : {
     "qri" : "cm:0",
-    "title" : "initial commit",
-    "timestamp": "2017-04-01T01:00:00.000Z"
+    "title" : "initial commit"
   },
   "structure": {
     "checksum": "QmPT7t4GQaBN4uxCdv3PD8A5vWaJ1ELCKCaZEjYYvUhe4W",
diff --git a/repo/test/testdata/flourinated_compounds_in_fast_food_packaging/input.dataset.json b/repo/test/testdata/flourinated_compounds_in_fast_food_packaging/input.dataset.json
index aa43f516d..b85487674 100644
--- a/repo/test/testdata/flourinated_compounds_in_fast_food_packaging/input.dataset.json
+++ b/repo/test/testdata/flourinated_compounds_in_fast_food_packaging/input.dataset.json
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
 {
   "commit" : {
     "qri" : "cm:0",
-    "title" : "initial commit",
-    "timestamp": "2017-05-01T01:00:00.000Z"
+    "title" : "initial commit"
   },
   "meta" : {
     "title" : "Fluorinated Compounds in U.S. Fast Food Packaging",
diff --git a/repo/test/testdata/movies/input.dataset.json b/repo/test/testdata/movies/input.dataset.json
index e4619f9cd..139a7a5fc 100644
--- a/repo/test/testdata/movies/input.dataset.json
+++ b/repo/test/testdata/movies/input.dataset.json
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
   },
   "commit": {
     "qri": "cm:0",
-    "timestamp": "2017-03-01T01:00:00.000Z",
     "title": "initial commit"
   },
   "structure": {
diff --git a/repo/test/testdata/sitemap/input.dataset.json b/repo/test/testdata/sitemap/input.dataset.json
index 54ada4f38..438321eaa 100644
--- a/repo/test/testdata/sitemap/input.dataset.json
+++ b/repo/test/testdata/sitemap/input.dataset.json
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
   },
   "commit": {
     "qri": "cm:0",
-    "timestamp": "2017-06-01T01:00:00.000Z",
     "title": "initial commit"
   },
   "structure": {