diff --git a/layouts/partials/postCard.html b/layouts/partials/postCard.html
index e06d42c9..cb186fbb 100644
--- a/layouts/partials/postCard.html
+++ b/layouts/partials/postCard.html
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@ <h4 class="post-item-title">
     </h4>
     {{/* format date string to create an ISO 8601 string */}}
     {{ $ISO_date := "2006-01-02T15:04:05Z0700" }}
-    {{ $configDateFormat := .Site.Params.dateFormat }}
+    {{ $configDateFormat := .Site.Params.dateFormat | default "2 Jan 2006" }}
     <time class="post-item-meta" datetime="{{ dateFormat $ISO_date .Date }}">
         {{ time.Format $configDateFormat .Date }}
         {{/* OLD FORMAT: .Date.Format $configDateFormat */}}