diff --git a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/components/Date.java b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/components/Date.java
index 3c89ce43f..ac3d68bf2 100644
--- a/core/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/components/Date.java
+++ b/core/src/main/java/org/apache/struts2/components/Date.java
@@ -288,8 +288,10 @@ public class Date extends ContextBean {
             Object dateObject = findValue(name);
             if (dateObject instanceof java.util.Date) {
                 date = (java.util.Date) dateObject;
-            } else if(dateObject instanceof Calendar){
+            } else if (dateObject instanceof Calendar) {
                 date = ((Calendar) dateObject).getTime();
+            } else if (dateObject instanceof Long) {
+                date = new java.util.Date((long) dateObject);
             } else {
                 if (devMode) {
                     String developerNotification = LocalizedTextUtil.findText(
@@ -299,12 +301,12 @@ public class Date extends ContextBean {
                             "Developer Notification:\n{0}",
                             new Object[]{
                                     "Expression [" + name + "] passed to <s:date/> tag which was evaluated to [" + dateObject + "]("
-                                            + (dateObject != null ? dateObject.getClass() : "null") + ") isn't instance of java.util.Date nor java.util.Calendar!"
+                                            + (dateObject != null ? dateObject.getClass() : "null") + ") isn't instance of java.util.Date nor java.util.Calendar nor long!"
                             }
                     );
                     LOG.warn(developerNotification);
                 } else {
-                    LOG.debug("Expression [{}] passed to <s:date/> tag which was evaluated to [{}]({}) isn't instance of java.util.Date nor java.util.Calendar!",
+                    LOG.debug("Expression [{}] passed to <s:date/> tag which was evaluated to [{}]({}) isn't instance of java.util.Date nor java.util.Calendar nor long!",
                             name, dateObject, (dateObject != null ? dateObject.getClass() : "null"));
                 }
             }
diff --git a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/struts2/views/jsp/ui/DateTagTest.java b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/struts2/views/jsp/ui/DateTagTest.java
index 27c6a0d6e..cc5b7a769 100644
--- a/core/src/test/java/org/apache/struts2/views/jsp/ui/DateTagTest.java
+++ b/core/src/test/java/org/apache/struts2/views/jsp/ui/DateTagTest.java
@@ -102,6 +102,21 @@ public class DateTagTest extends AbstractTagTest {
         assertEquals(formatted, writer.toString());
     }
 
+    public void testCustomFormatLong() throws Exception {
+        String format = "yyyy/MM/dd hh:mm:ss";
+        Date date = new Date();
+        String formatted = new SimpleDateFormat(format).format(date);
+        // long
+        context.put("myDate", date.getTime());
+
+        tag.setName("myDate");
+        tag.setNice(false);
+        tag.setFormat(format);
+        tag.doStartTag();
+        tag.doEndTag();
+        assertEquals(formatted, writer.toString());
+    }
+
     public void testDefaultFormat() throws Exception {
         Date now = new Date();
         String formatted = DateFormat.getDateTimeInstance(DateFormat.MEDIUM, DateFormat.MEDIUM,