diff --git a/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/Cargo.toml b/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/Cargo.toml
index d8eb073..de0684e 100644
--- a/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/Cargo.toml
+++ b/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/Cargo.toml
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ required-features = ["sha-2"]
 [dependencies]
 base64 = { version = "0.13", optional = true }
 http-signature-normalization = { version = "0.6.0", path = ".." }
+httpdate = "1.0.2"
 reqwest = { version = "0.11", default-features = false, features = ["json"] }
 reqwest-middleware = { version = "0.2.0", optional = true }
 sha2 = { version = "0.10", optional = true }
@@ -34,7 +35,6 @@ tokio = { version = "1", default-features = false, features = [
 ], optional = true }
 
 [dev-dependencies]
-httpdate = "1.0.2"
 pretty_env_logger = "0.4"
 tokio = { version = "1", default-features = false, features = [
   "rt-multi-thread",
diff --git a/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/examples/client.rs b/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/examples/client.rs
index 41d5db2..c75b9ff 100644
--- a/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/examples/client.rs
+++ b/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/examples/client.rs
@@ -1,11 +1,9 @@
 use http_signature_normalization_reqwest::prelude::*;
-use httpdate::HttpDate;
 use reqwest::{
-    header::{ACCEPT, DATE, USER_AGENT},
+    header::{ACCEPT, USER_AGENT},
     Client,
 };
 use sha2::{Digest, Sha256};
-use std::time::SystemTime;
 
 async fn request(config: Config) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send + Sync>> {
     let digest = Sha256::new();
@@ -16,7 +14,6 @@ async fn request(config: Config) -> Result<(), Box<dyn std::error::Error + Send
         .post("http://127.0.0.1:8010/")
         .header(USER_AGENT, "Reqwest")
         .header(ACCEPT, "text/plain")
-        .header(DATE, HttpDate::from(SystemTime::now()).to_string())
         .signature_with_digest(config, "my-key-id", digest, "Hewwo-owo", |s| {
             println!("Signing String\n{}", s);
             Ok(base64::encode(s)) as Result<_, MyError>
diff --git a/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/src/lib.rs b/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/src/lib.rs
index 2279eeb..382ce08 100644
--- a/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/src/lib.rs
+++ b/http-signature-normalization-reqwest/src/lib.rs
@@ -1,9 +1,14 @@
 use http_signature_normalization::create::Signed;
+use httpdate::HttpDate;
 use reqwest::{
     header::{InvalidHeaderValue, ToStrError},
     Request, RequestBuilder,
 };
-use std::{fmt::Display, time::Duration};
+use std::{
+    convert::TryInto,
+    fmt::Display,
+    time::{Duration, SystemTime},
+};
 
 pub use http_signature_normalization::RequiredError;
 
@@ -28,6 +33,9 @@ pub struct Config {
 
     /// Whether to set the Host header
     set_host: bool,
+
+    /// Whether to set the Date header
+    set_date: bool,
 }
 
 /// A trait implemented by the reqwest RequestBuilder type to add an HTTP Signature to the request
@@ -90,6 +98,7 @@ impl Config {
         Config {
             config: self.config,
             set_host: true,
+            set_date: self.set_date,
         }
     }
 
@@ -101,6 +110,7 @@ impl Config {
         Config {
             config: self.config.mastodon_compat(),
             set_host: true,
+            set_date: true,
         }
     }
 
@@ -111,6 +121,7 @@ impl Config {
         Config {
             config: self.config.require_digest(),
             set_host: self.set_host,
+            set_date: self.set_date,
         }
     }
 
@@ -122,6 +133,7 @@ impl Config {
         Config {
             config: self.config.dont_use_created_field(),
             set_host: self.set_host,
+            set_date: self.set_date,
         }
     }
 
@@ -130,6 +142,7 @@ impl Config {
         Config {
             config: self.config.set_expiration(expiries_after),
             set_host: self.set_host,
+            set_date: self.set_date,
         }
     }
 
@@ -138,6 +151,7 @@ impl Config {
         Config {
             config: self.config.require_header(header),
             set_host: self.set_host,
+            set_date: self.set_date,
         }
     }
 }
@@ -155,7 +169,7 @@ impl Sign for RequestBuilder {
         K: Display,
     {
         let mut request = self.build()?;
-        let signed = prepare(&request, config, key_id, f)?;
+        let signed = prepare(&mut request, config, key_id, f)?;
 
         let auth_header = signed.authorization_header();
         request.headers_mut().insert(
@@ -173,7 +187,7 @@ impl Sign for RequestBuilder {
         K: Display,
     {
         let mut request = self.build()?;
-        let signed = prepare(&request, config, key_id, f)?;
+        let signed = prepare(&mut request, config, key_id, f)?;
 
         let sig_header = signed.signature_header();
 
@@ -186,12 +200,23 @@ impl Sign for RequestBuilder {
     }
 }
 
-fn prepare<F, E, K>(req: &Request, config: &Config, key_id: K, f: F) -> Result<Signed, E>
+fn prepare<F, E, K>(req: &mut Request, config: &Config, key_id: K, f: F) -> Result<Signed, E>
 where
     F: FnOnce(&str) -> Result<String, E>,
     E: From<SignError>,
     K: Display,
 {
+    if config.set_date {
+        if !req.headers().contains_key("date") {
+            req.headers_mut().insert(
+                "date",
+                HttpDate::from(SystemTime::now())
+                    .to_string()
+                    .try_into()
+                    .map_err(SignError::from)?,
+            );
+        }
+    }
     let mut bt = std::collections::BTreeMap::new();
     for (k, v) in req.headers().iter() {
         bt.insert(
@@ -247,7 +272,7 @@ mod middleware {
             K: Display,
         {
             let mut request = self.build()?;
-            let signed = prepare(&request, config, key_id, f)?;
+            let signed = prepare(&mut request, config, key_id, f)?;
 
             let auth_header = signed.authorization_header();
             request.headers_mut().insert(
@@ -265,7 +290,7 @@ mod middleware {
             K: Display,
         {
             let mut request = self.build()?;
-            let signed = prepare(&request, config, key_id, f)?;
+            let signed = prepare(&mut request, config, key_id, f)?;
 
             let sig_header = signed.signature_header();