diff --git a/src/git/mod.rs b/src/git/mod.rs
index e921a90..3503bd6 100644
--- a/src/git/mod.rs
+++ b/src/git/mod.rs
@@ -7,9 +7,17 @@ pub(crate) mod repo;
 pub(crate) mod tree;
 
 use chrono::offset::{Local, TimeZone};
-use chrono::DateTime;
+use chrono::{DateTime, NaiveDateTime};
 use git2::{Commit, Signature};
 
+fn min_date() -> DateTime<Local> {
+    Local.from_utc_datetime(&NaiveDateTime::MIN)
+}
+
+fn timestamp_with_fallback(timestamp: i64) -> DateTime<Local> {
+    Local.timestamp_opt(timestamp, 0).earliest().unwrap_or(min_date())
+}
+
 #[derive(Clone, Debug)]
 pub struct SocialSignature {
     pub when: DateTime<Local>,
@@ -20,7 +28,7 @@ pub struct SocialSignature {
 impl Default for SocialSignature {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
-            when: Local.timestamp(0, 0),
+            when: min_date(),
             name: "".to_string(),
             email: "".to_string(),
         }
@@ -53,7 +61,7 @@ impl Default for SocialCommit {
     fn default() -> Self {
         Self {
             id: "".to_string(),
-            time: Local.timestamp(0, 0),
+            time: min_date(),
             message: "".to_string(),
             author: SocialSignature::default(),
             committer: SocialSignature::default(),
@@ -68,7 +76,7 @@ impl From<Signature<'_>> for SocialSignature {
         Self {
             name: s.name().unwrap_or("").to_owned(),
             email: s.email().unwrap_or("").to_owned(),
-            when: Local.timestamp(s.when().seconds(), 0),
+            when: timestamp_with_fallback(s.when().seconds()),
         }
     }
 }
@@ -77,7 +85,7 @@ impl From<Commit<'_>> for SocialCommit {
     fn from(c: Commit<'_>) -> Self {
         Self {
             id: format!("{}", c.id()),
-            time: Local.timestamp(c.time().seconds(), 0),
+            time: timestamp_with_fallback(c.time().seconds()),
             message: c.message().unwrap_or("").to_owned(),
             author: c.author().into(),
             committer: c.committer().into(),