diff --git a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/trace/ReportSummary.groovy b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/trace/ReportSummary.groovy
index f11c23a8f3..0399624046 100644
--- a/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/trace/ReportSummary.groovy
+++ b/modules/nextflow/src/main/groovy/nextflow/trace/ReportSummary.groovy
@@ -64,8 +64,6 @@ class ReportSummary {
         }
     }
 
-
-
     /**
      * Hold the summary for each series ie. cpu, memory, time, disk reads, disk writes
      */
diff --git a/modules/nf-commons/src/main/nextflow/util/SysHelper.groovy b/modules/nf-commons/src/main/nextflow/util/SysHelper.groovy
index 084d4ea6f1..660c45a904 100644
--- a/modules/nf-commons/src/main/nextflow/util/SysHelper.groovy
+++ b/modules/nf-commons/src/main/nextflow/util/SysHelper.groovy
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ import groovy.transform.CompileStatic
 import groovy.transform.Memoized
 import groovy.transform.PackageScope
 import groovy.util.logging.Slf4j
+import nextflow.SysEnv
 import nextflow.file.FileHelper
 /**
  * System helper methods
@@ -37,7 +38,7 @@ class SysHelper {
 
     public static final String DEFAULT_DOCKER_PLATFORM = 'linux/amd64'
 
-    private static String DATE_FORMAT = 'dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm'
+    private static final String DATE_FORMAT = 'dd-MMM-yyyy HH:mm'
 
     /**
      * Given a timestamp as epoch time convert to a string representation
@@ -66,11 +67,18 @@ class SysHelper {
      *      The formatted date string
      */
     static String fmtDate(Date date, TimeZone tz=null) {
-        def formatter=new SimpleDateFormat(DATE_FORMAT, Locale.ENGLISH)
+        final formatter=new SimpleDateFormat(fmtEnv(), Locale.ENGLISH)
         if(tz) formatter.setTimeZone(tz)
         formatter.format(date)
     }
 
+    static private String fmtEnv() {
+        final result = SysEnv.get('NXF_DATE_FORMAT', DATE_FORMAT)
+        return result.toLowerCase() == 'iso'
+            ? "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ssXXX"
+            : result
+    }
+
     /**
      * Read the system uptime as returned by the {@code uptime} Linux tool
      *
diff --git a/modules/nf-commons/src/test/nextflow/util/SysHelperTest.groovy b/modules/nf-commons/src/test/nextflow/util/SysHelperTest.groovy
index c59b936d39..911e1c5143 100644
--- a/modules/nf-commons/src/test/nextflow/util/SysHelperTest.groovy
+++ b/modules/nf-commons/src/test/nextflow/util/SysHelperTest.groovy
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ package nextflow.util
 import java.lang.management.ManagementFactory
 
 import com.sun.management.OperatingSystemMXBean
+import nextflow.SysEnv
 import nextflow.file.FileHelper
 import spock.lang.Specification
 /**
@@ -74,6 +75,9 @@ class SysHelperTest extends Specification {
 
     def 'should format date string' () {
         given:
+        def env = dateFormat ? [NXF_DATE_FORMAT:dateFormat] : [:]
+        SysEnv.push(env)
+        and:
         def defLocale = Locale.getDefault(Locale.Category.FORMAT)
         def useLocale = new Locale.Builder().setLanguage(locale).build()
         Locale.setDefault(Locale.Category.FORMAT, useLocale)
@@ -85,11 +89,18 @@ class SysHelperTest extends Specification {
 
         cleanup:
         Locale.setDefault(Locale.Category.FORMAT, defLocale)
+        SysEnv.pop()
 
         where:
-        dateInMilis | locale | expected
-        1470901220000  | 'en' | '11-Aug-2016 09:40'
-        1470901220000  | 'es' | '11-Aug-2016 09:40'
+        dateInMilis    | locale | dateFormat    | expected
+        1470901220000  | 'en'   | null          | '11-Aug-2016 09:40'
+        1470901220000  | 'es'   | null          | '11-Aug-2016 09:40'
+        and:
+        1470901220000  | 'en'   | 'iso'         | '2016-08-11T09:40:20+02:00'
+        1470901220000  | 'es'   | 'iso'         | '2016-08-11T09:40:20+02:00'
+        and:
+        1470901220000  | 'en'   | "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS"         | '2016-08-11T09:40:20.000'
+        1470901220000  | 'es'   | "yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss.SSS"         | '2016-08-11T09:40:20.000'
     }
 
 }