diff --git a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/histogram/DateHistogramBuilder.java b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/histogram/DateHistogramBuilder.java
index 62dfce2409b..94e75d76cdd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/histogram/DateHistogramBuilder.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/histogram/DateHistogramBuilder.java
@@ -41,8 +41,8 @@ public class DateHistogramBuilder extends ValuesSourceAggregationBuilder<DateHis
     private String postZone;
     private boolean preZoneAdjustLargeInterval;
     private String format;
-    long preOffset = 0;
-    long postOffset = 0;
+    private String preOffset;
+    private String postOffset;
     float factor = 1.0f;
 
     public DateHistogramBuilder(String name) {
@@ -84,12 +84,12 @@ public class DateHistogramBuilder extends ValuesSourceAggregationBuilder<DateHis
         return this;
     }
 
-    public DateHistogramBuilder preOffset(long preOffset) {
+    public DateHistogramBuilder preOffset(String preOffset) {
         this.preOffset = preOffset;
         return this;
     }
 
-    public DateHistogramBuilder postOffset(long postOffset) {
+    public DateHistogramBuilder postOffset(String postOffset) {
         this.postOffset = postOffset;
         return this;
     }
@@ -153,11 +153,11 @@ public class DateHistogramBuilder extends ValuesSourceAggregationBuilder<DateHis
             builder.field("pre_zone_adjust_large_interval", true);
         }
 
-        if (preOffset != 0) {
+        if (preOffset != null) {
             builder.field("pre_offset", preOffset);
         }
 
-        if (postOffset != 0) {
+        if (postOffset != null) {
             builder.field("post_offset", postOffset);
         }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateHistogramTests.java b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateHistogramTests.java
index f3ba5e9d167..2e392dfe4d0 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateHistogramTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/elasticsearch/search/aggregations/bucket/DateHistogramTests.java
@@ -1051,6 +1051,76 @@ public class DateHistogramTests extends ElasticsearchIntegrationTest {
         assertThat(bucket.getDocCount(), equalTo(3l));
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void singleValue_WithPreOffset() throws Exception {
+        prepareCreate("idx2").addMapping("type", "date", "type=date").execute().actionGet();
+        IndexRequestBuilder[] reqs = new IndexRequestBuilder[5];
+        DateTime date = date("2014-03-11T00:00:00+00:00");
+        for (int i = 0; i < reqs.length; i++) {
+            reqs[i] = client().prepareIndex("idx2", "type", "" + i).setSource(jsonBuilder().startObject().field("date", date).endObject());
+            date = date.plusHours(1);
+        }
+        indexRandom(true, reqs);
+
+        SearchResponse response = client().prepareSearch("idx2")
+                .setQuery(matchAllQuery())
+                .addAggregation(dateHistogram("date_histo")
+                        .field("date")
+                        .preOffset("-2h")
+                        .interval(DateHistogram.Interval.DAY)
+                        .format("yyyy-MM-dd"))
+                .execute().actionGet();
+
+        assertThat(response.getHits().getTotalHits(), equalTo(5l));
+
+        DateHistogram histo = response.getAggregations().get("date_histo");
+        Collection<? extends DateHistogram.Bucket> buckets = histo.getBuckets();
+        assertThat(buckets.size(), equalTo(2));
+
+        DateHistogram.Bucket bucket = histo.getBucketByKey("2014-03-10");
+        assertThat(bucket, Matchers.notNullValue());
+        assertThat(bucket.getDocCount(), equalTo(2l));
+
+        bucket = histo.getBucketByKey("2014-03-11");
+        assertThat(bucket, Matchers.notNullValue());
+        assertThat(bucket.getDocCount(), equalTo(3l));
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void singleValue_WithPostOffset() throws Exception {
+        prepareCreate("idx2").addMapping("type", "date", "type=date").execute().actionGet();
+        IndexRequestBuilder[] reqs = new IndexRequestBuilder[5];
+        DateTime date = date("2014-03-11T00:00:00+00:00");
+        for (int i = 0; i < reqs.length; i++) {
+            reqs[i] = client().prepareIndex("idx2", "type", "" + i).setSource(jsonBuilder().startObject().field("date", date).endObject());
+            date = date.plusHours(6);
+        }
+        indexRandom(true, reqs);
+
+        SearchResponse response = client().prepareSearch("idx2")
+                .setQuery(matchAllQuery())
+                .addAggregation(dateHistogram("date_histo")
+                        .field("date")
+                        .postOffset("2d")
+                        .interval(DateHistogram.Interval.DAY)
+                        .format("yyyy-MM-dd"))
+                .execute().actionGet();
+
+        assertThat(response.getHits().getTotalHits(), equalTo(5l));
+
+        DateHistogram histo = response.getAggregations().get("date_histo");
+        Collection<? extends DateHistogram.Bucket> buckets = histo.getBuckets();
+        assertThat(buckets.size(), equalTo(2));
+
+        DateHistogram.Bucket bucket = histo.getBucketByKey("2014-03-13");
+        assertThat(bucket, Matchers.notNullValue());
+        assertThat(bucket.getDocCount(), equalTo(4l));
+
+        bucket = histo.getBucketByKey("2014-03-14");
+        assertThat(bucket, Matchers.notNullValue());
+        assertThat(bucket.getDocCount(), equalTo(1l));
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void singleValue_WithPreZone_WithAadjustLargeInterval() throws Exception {
         prepareCreate("idx2").addMapping("type", "date", "type=date").execute().actionGet();