diff --git a/website/public/js/controllers/tasksCtrl.js b/website/public/js/controllers/tasksCtrl.js
index 586e025c15..634847ad1a 100644
--- a/website/public/js/controllers/tasksCtrl.js
+++ b/website/public/js/controllers/tasksCtrl.js
@@ -137,22 +137,14 @@ habitrpg.controller("TasksCtrl", ['$scope', '$rootScope', '$location', 'User','N
      Dailies
      ------------------------
      */
-    $scope.updateTaskStartDate = function(task) {
-      /*
-       Keep startDate and _tempDateForPicker in sync. The reason for having both instead
-       of having startDate be the ngmodel for datePicker is that datePicker initializes with
-       an incorrect format when given a Date for an ngmodel; instead we initialize _tempDate
-       to be a string that datePicker then converts to a Date, which lets us control the format.
-       */
-      task.startDate = task._tempDateForPicker;
-    };
 
     $scope.openDatePicker = function($event, task) {
+      $event.preventDefault();
       $event.stopPropagation();
+
       task._isDatePickerOpen = !task._isDatePickerOpen;
     }
 
-
     /*
      ------------------------
      Checklists
diff --git a/website/views/shared/tasks/edit/advanced_options.jade b/website/views/shared/tasks/edit/advanced_options.jade
index 10635fb7e3..a1c9284235 100644
--- a/website/views/shared/tasks/edit/advanced_options.jade
+++ b/website/views/shared/tasks/edit/advanced_options.jade
@@ -8,12 +8,12 @@ div(ng-if='::task.type!="reward"')
       .form-group
         legend.option-title=env.t('startDate')
         .input-group
-          input.form-control(type='date', ng-model='task._tempDateForPicker',
-            ng-change='updateTaskStartDate(task)',
-            is-open='task._isDatePickerOpen', datepicker-popup, required)
+          input.form-control(type='text', ng-model='task.startDate',
+            datepicker-popup='M/dd/yyyy', is-open='task._isDatePickerOpen',
+            ng-required='true', close-text='Close')
           span.input-group-btn
             button.btn.btn-default(type='button' ng-click='openDatePicker($event, task)')
-              .glyphicon.glyphicon-calendar
+              i.glyphicon.glyphicon-calendar
 
       hr