diff --git a/lang/ruby/lib/avro/logical_types.rb b/lang/ruby/lib/avro/logical_types.rb
index 48e0ded5098..479c119c89f 100644
--- a/lang/ruby/lib/avro/logical_types.rb
+++ b/lang/ruby/lib/avro/logical_types.rb
@@ -205,6 +205,7 @@ module IntDate
       def self.encode(date)
         return date.to_i if date.is_a?(Numeric)
 
+        date = Date.parse(date) if date.is_a?(String)
         (date - EPOCH_START).to_i
       end
 
diff --git a/lang/ruby/test/test_logical_types.rb b/lang/ruby/test/test_logical_types.rb
index 5d5d5b80f24..648abea1e12 100644
--- a/lang/ruby/test/test_logical_types.rb
+++ b/lang/ruby/test/test_logical_types.rb
@@ -38,6 +38,9 @@ def test_int_date_conversion
     assert_equal 0, type.encode(Date.new(1970, 1, 1))
     assert_equal(-5, type.encode(Date.new(1969, 12, 27)))
 
+    assert_equal 5, type.encode('1970-01-06')
+    assert_equal 0, type.encode('1970-01-01')
+
     assert_equal Date.new(1970, 1, 6), type.decode(5)
     assert_equal Date.new(1970, 1, 1), type.decode(0)
     assert_equal Date.new(1969, 12, 27), type.decode(-5)