diff --git a/script/import_scripts/mbox/importer.rb b/script/import_scripts/mbox/importer.rb
index 4615f105247..db0269d8883 100644
--- a/script/import_scripts/mbox/importer.rb
+++ b/script/import_scripts/mbox/importer.rb
@@ -93,7 +93,10 @@ module ImportScripts::Mbox
         next if all_records_exist?(:posts, rows.map { |row| row['msg_id'] })
 
         create_posts(rows, total: total_count, offset: offset) do |row|
-          if row['in_reply_to'].blank?
+          if row['email_date'].blank?
+            puts "Date is missing. Skipping #{row['msg_id']}"
+            nil
+          elsif row['in_reply_to'].blank?
             map_first_post(row)
           else
             map_reply(row)
@@ -163,8 +166,8 @@ module ImportScripts::Mbox
       )
     end
 
-    def to_time(datetime)
-      Time.zone.at(DateTime.iso8601(datetime)) if datetime
+    def to_time(timestamp)
+      Time.zone.at(timestamp) if timestamp
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/script/import_scripts/mbox/settings.yml b/script/import_scripts/mbox/settings.yml
index a4b449a3d6f..cac3996a90a 100644
--- a/script/import_scripts/mbox/settings.yml
+++ b/script/import_scripts/mbox/settings.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 data_dir: /shared/import/data
 
 # mbox files
-split_regex: "^From .+"
+split_regex: "^From .+@.+"
 #split_regex: "^From .+@example.com.+"
 
 # individual emails
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ split_regex: "^From .+"
 #split_regex: "^========================================================================="
 
 default_trust_level: 1
-prefer_html: false
+prefer_html: true
 staged: true
 index_only: false
 
diff --git a/script/import_scripts/mbox/support/database.rb b/script/import_scripts/mbox/support/database.rb
index 6121e23a5e8..a7415a0327c 100644
--- a/script/import_scripts/mbox/support/database.rb
+++ b/script/import_scripts/mbox/support/database.rb
@@ -97,19 +97,20 @@ module ImportScripts::Mbox
 
       @db.execute <<-SQL
         WITH RECURSIVE
-          messages(msg_id, level, email_date) AS (
-            SELECT msg_id, 0 AS level, email_date
+          messages(msg_id, level, email_date, in_reply_to) AS (
+            SELECT msg_id, 0 AS level, email_date, in_reply_to
             FROM email
             WHERE in_reply_to IS NULL
             UNION ALL
-            SELECT e.msg_id, m.level + 1, e.email_date
+            SELECT e.msg_id, m.level + 1, e.email_date, e.in_reply_to
             FROM email e
               JOIN messages m ON e.in_reply_to = m.msg_id
-            ORDER BY level, email_date, msg_id
           )
         INSERT INTO email_order (msg_id)
-        SELECT msg_id
-        FROM messages
+        SELECT c.msg_id
+        FROM messages c
+          LEFT OUTER JOIN messages p ON (c.in_reply_to = p.msg_id)
+        ORDER BY MAX(c.email_date, p.email_date), c.level, c.email_date, c.msg_id
       SQL
     end
 
@@ -175,7 +176,6 @@ module ImportScripts::Mbox
       @db.get_first_value <<-SQL
         SELECT COUNT(*)
         FROM email
-        WHERE email_date IS NOT NULL
       SQL
     end
 
@@ -185,8 +185,7 @@ module ImportScripts::Mbox
           raw_message, body, elided, format, attachment_count, category
         FROM email e
           JOIN email_order o USING (msg_id)
-        WHERE email_date IS NOT NULL AND
-          o.ROWID > :last_row_id
+        WHERE o.ROWID > :last_row_id
         ORDER BY o.ROWID
         LIMIT #{@batch_size}
       SQL
diff --git a/script/import_scripts/mbox/support/indexer.rb b/script/import_scripts/mbox/support/indexer.rb
index dfaf74f68f7..1a2260525a6 100644
--- a/script/import_scripts/mbox/support/indexer.rb
+++ b/script/import_scripts/mbox/support/indexer.rb
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ module ImportScripts::Mbox
             from_email: from_email,
             from_name: from_display_name,
             subject: extract_subject(receiver, category_name),
-            email_date: parsed_email.date&.to_s,
+            email_date: timestamp(parsed_email.date),
             raw_message: receiver.raw_email,
             body: body,
             elided: elided,
@@ -256,5 +256,9 @@ module ImportScripts::Mbox
     def monotonic_time
       Process.clock_gettime(Process::CLOCK_MONOTONIC)
     end
+
+    def timestamp(datetime)
+      Time.zone.at(datetime).to_i if datetime
+    end
   end
 end