diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/camunda/bpm/engine/impl/calendar/DurationHelper.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/camunda/bpm/engine/impl/calendar/DurationHelper.java
index ac2aa23427c..dd93d2c3579 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/camunda/bpm/engine/impl/calendar/DurationHelper.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/camunda/bpm/engine/impl/calendar/DurationHelper.java
@@ -35,7 +35,9 @@
  */
 public class DurationHelper {
 
-  private final static EngineUtilLogger LOG = ProcessEngineLogger.UTIL_LOGGER;
+  public static final String PnW_PATTERN = "P\\d+W";
+  private static final int MS_PER_WEEK = 7 * 24 * 60 * 60 * 1000;
+  private static final EngineUtilLogger LOG = ProcessEngineLogger.UTIL_LOGGER;
 
   Date start;
 
@@ -135,9 +137,18 @@ private Date add(Date date, Duration duration) {
   }
 
   private Duration parsePeriod(String period) {
+    if (period.matches(PnW_PATTERN)) {
+      return parsePnWDuration(period);
+    }
     return datatypeFactory.newDuration(period);
   }
 
+  private Duration parsePnWDuration(String period) {
+    String weeks = period.replaceAll("\\D", "");
+    int numberOfWeeks = Integer.parseInt(weeks);
+    return datatypeFactory.newDuration(numberOfWeeks * MS_PER_WEEK);
+  }
+
   private boolean isDuration(String time) {
     return time.startsWith("P");
   }
diff --git a/engine/src/test/java/org/camunda/bpm/engine/test/standalone/calendar/DurationHelperTest.java b/engine/src/test/java/org/camunda/bpm/engine/test/standalone/calendar/DurationHelperTest.java
index 80a4bf653df..e33fabbf88b 100644
--- a/engine/src/test/java/org/camunda/bpm/engine/test/standalone/calendar/DurationHelperTest.java
+++ b/engine/src/test/java/org/camunda/bpm/engine/test/standalone/calendar/DurationHelperTest.java
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
 package org.camunda.bpm.engine.test.standalone.calendar;
 
 import static junit.framework.TestCase.assertEquals;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.Assert.assertNull;
 
 import java.text.SimpleDateFormat;
@@ -97,7 +98,17 @@ public void shouldNotExceedNumberNegativeWithStartDate() throws Exception {
 
     assertEquals(parse("19700101-00:00:40"), dh.getDateAfter(parse("19700101-00:00:35")));
   }
-
+  
+  @Test
+  public void shouldParseAllSupportedISO8601DurationPatterns() throws Exception {
+    // given
+    // when
+    DurationHelper PnYnMnDTnHnMnS = new DurationHelper("P1Y5M21DT19H47M55S", parse("19700101-00:00:00"));
+    DurationHelper PnW = new DurationHelper("P2W", parse("19700101-00:00:00"));
+    // then
+    assertThat(PnYnMnDTnHnMnS.getDateAfter()).isEqualTo(parse("19710622-19:47:55"));
+    assertThat(PnW.getDateAfter()).isEqualTo(parse("19700115-00:00:00"));
+  }
 
   private Date parse(String str) throws Exception {
     SimpleDateFormat simpleDateFormat = new SimpleDateFormat("yyyyMMdd-HH:mm:ss");