diff --git a/gst/gstplugin.c b/gst/gstplugin.c
index 68e72ef676..599af83fc7 100644
--- a/gst/gstplugin.c
+++ b/gst/gstplugin.c
@@ -231,7 +231,7 @@ gst_plugin_register_static (gint major_version, gint minor_version,
     const gchar * package, const gchar * origin)
 {
   GstPluginDesc desc = { major_version, minor_version, name, description,
-    init_func, version, license, source, package, origin,
+    init_func, version, license, source, package, origin, NULL,
   };
   GstPlugin *plugin;
   gboolean res = FALSE;
@@ -300,7 +300,7 @@ gst_plugin_register_static_full (gint major_version, gint minor_version,
 {
   GstPluginDesc desc = { major_version, minor_version, name, description,
     (GstPluginInitFunc) init_full_func, version, license, source, package,
-    origin,
+    origin, NULL,
   };
   GstPlugin *plugin;
   gboolean res = FALSE;
@@ -645,6 +645,44 @@ _gst_plugin_fault_handler_setup (void)
 }
 #endif /* HAVE_SIGACTION */
 
+/* g_time_val_from_iso8601() doesn't do quite what we want */
+static gboolean
+check_release_datetime (const gchar * date_time)
+{
+  guint64 val;
+
+  /* we require YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MMZ format */
+  if (!g_ascii_isdigit (*date_time))
+    return FALSE;
+
+  val = g_ascii_strtoull (date_time, (gchar **) & date_time, 10);
+  if (val < 2000 || val > 2100 || *date_time != '-')
+    return FALSE;
+
+  val = g_ascii_strtoull (date_time + 1, (gchar **) & date_time, 10);
+  if (val == 0 || val > 12 || *date_time != '-')
+    return FALSE;
+
+  val = g_ascii_strtoull (date_time + 1, (gchar **) & date_time, 10);
+  if (val == 0 || val > 32)
+    return FALSE;
+
+  /* end of string or date/time separator + HH:MMZ */
+  if (*date_time == 'T' || *date_time == ' ') {
+    val = g_ascii_strtoull (date_time + 1, (gchar **) & date_time, 10);
+    if (val > 24 || *date_time != ':')
+      return FALSE;
+
+    val = g_ascii_strtoull (date_time + 1, (gchar **) & date_time, 10);
+    if (val > 59 || *date_time != 'Z')
+      return FALSE;
+
+    ++date_time;
+  }
+
+  return (*date_time == '\0');
+}
+
 static GStaticMutex gst_plugin_loading_mutex = G_STATIC_MUTEX_INIT;
 
 #define CHECK_PLUGIN_DESC_FIELD(desc,field,fn)                               \
@@ -769,6 +807,13 @@ gst_plugin_load_file (const gchar * filename, GError ** error)
     CHECK_PLUGIN_DESC_FIELD (plugin->orig_desc, source, filename);
     CHECK_PLUGIN_DESC_FIELD (plugin->orig_desc, package, filename);
     CHECK_PLUGIN_DESC_FIELD (plugin->orig_desc, origin, filename);
+
+    if (plugin->orig_desc->release_datetime != NULL &&
+        !check_release_datetime (plugin->orig_desc->release_datetime)) {
+      GST_ERROR ("GstPluginDesc for '%s' has invalid datetime '%s'",
+          filename, plugin->orig_desc->release_datetime);
+      plugin->orig_desc->release_datetime = NULL;
+    }
   }
 
   GST_LOG ("Plugin %p for file \"%s\" prepared, calling entry function...",
@@ -829,6 +874,7 @@ gst_plugin_desc_copy (GstPluginDesc * dest, const GstPluginDesc * src)
   dest->source = g_intern_string (src->source);
   dest->package = g_intern_string (src->package);
   dest->origin = g_intern_string (src->origin);
+  dest->release_datetime = g_intern_string (src->release_datetime);
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/gst/gstplugin.h b/gst/gstplugin.h
index aa893bf841..c4f9c44796 100644
--- a/gst/gstplugin.h
+++ b/gst/gstplugin.h
@@ -150,7 +150,11 @@ typedef gboolean (*GstPluginInitFullFunc) (GstPlugin *plugin, gpointer user_data
  * @source: source module plugin belongs to
  * @package: shipped package plugin belongs to
  * @origin: URL to provider of plugin
- * @_gst_reserved: private, for later expansion
+ * @release_datetime: date time string in ISO 8601 format (or rather, a
+ *     subset thereof), or NULL. Allowed are the following formats:
+ *     "YYYY-MM-DD" and "YYY-MM-DDTHH:MMZ" (with 'T' a separator and 'Z'
+ *     indicating UTC/Zulu time). This field should be set via the
+ *     GST_PACKAGE_RELEASE_DATETIME preprocessor macro (Since: 0.10.31)
  *
  * A plugin should export a variable of this type called plugin_desc. The plugin
  * loader will use the data provided there to initialize the plugin.
@@ -169,8 +173,9 @@ struct _GstPluginDesc {
   const gchar *source;
   const gchar *package;
   const gchar *origin;
-
-  gpointer _gst_reserved[GST_PADDING];
+  const gchar *release_datetime;
+  /*< private >*/
+  gpointer _gst_reserved[GST_PADDING - 1];
 };
 
 
@@ -218,6 +223,12 @@ struct _GstPluginClass {
   gpointer _gst_reserved[GST_PADDING];
 };
 
+#ifdef GST_PACKAGE_RELEASE_DATETIME
+#define __GST_PACKAGE_RELEASE_DATETIME GST_PACKAGE_RELEASE_DATETIME
+#else
+#define __GST_PACKAGE_RELEASE_DATETIME NULL
+#endif
+
 /**
  * GST_PLUGIN_DEFINE:
  * @major: major version number of the gstreamer-core that plugin was compiled for
@@ -235,6 +246,13 @@ struct _GstPluginClass {
  * by other applications.
  *
  * The macro uses a define named PACKAGE for the #GstPluginDesc,source field.
+ * When using autoconf, this is usually set automatically via the AC_INIT
+ * macro, and set in config.h. If you are not using autoconf, you will need to
+ * define PACKAGE yourself and set it to a short mnemonic string identifying
+ * your application/package, e.g. 'someapp' or 'my-plugins-foo.
+ *
+ * If defined, the GST_PACKAGE_RELEASE_DATETIME will also be used for the
+ * #GstPluginDesc,release_datetime field.
  */
 #define GST_PLUGIN_DEFINE(major,minor,name,description,init,version,license,package,origin)	\
 G_BEGIN_DECLS \
@@ -249,6 +267,7 @@ GST_PLUGIN_EXPORT GstPluginDesc gst_plugin_desc = {	\
   PACKAGE,						\
   package,						\
   origin,						\
+  __GST_PACKAGE_RELEASE_DATETIME,                       \
   GST_PADDING_INIT				        \
 }; \
 G_END_DECLS
@@ -294,6 +313,7 @@ _gst_plugin_static_init__ ##init (void)			\
     PACKAGE,						\
     package,						\
     origin,						\
+    NULL,						\
     GST_PADDING_INIT				        \
   };							\
   _gst_plugin_register_static (&plugin_desc_);		\
diff --git a/tests/check/gst/gstplugin.c b/tests/check/gst/gstplugin.c
index 18a56a196f..f8516771f8 100644
--- a/tests/check/gst/gstplugin.c
+++ b/tests/check/gst/gstplugin.c
@@ -104,7 +104,7 @@ static GstPluginDesc plugin_desc = {
   PACKAGE,
   GST_PACKAGE_NAME,
   GST_PACKAGE_ORIGIN,
-
+  NULL,
   GST_PADDING_INIT
 };