diff --git a/lib/microwaveprop/radio.ex b/lib/microwaveprop/radio.ex
index 5db7702e..6c4b5019 100644
--- a/lib/microwaveprop/radio.ex
+++ b/lib/microwaveprop/radio.ex
@@ -819,6 +819,51 @@ defmodule Microwaveprop.Radio do
     |> normalize_integer_field("height1_ft")
     |> normalize_integer_field("height2_ft")
     |> normalize_boolean_field("private")
+    |> normalize_timestamp_field("qso_timestamp")
+  end
+
+  # The /contacts/:id edit form pre-fills qso_timestamp as
+  # `"YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM"` via Calendar.strftime, then submits whatever
+  # the user typed. Coerce to %DateTime{} (UTC) so the diff matches
+  # against the stored DateTime instead of always reading as a change,
+  # and so the apply path doesn't crash on a non-ISO string. Drop the
+  # field when empty or unparseable so a bogus value is treated as
+  # "no change" rather than raising.
+  defp normalize_timestamp_field(map, key) do
+    case Map.get(map, key, :not_provided) do
+      :not_provided -> map
+      nil -> Map.delete(map, key)
+      "" -> Map.delete(map, key)
+      %DateTime{} = dt -> Map.put(map, key, dt)
+      val when is_binary(val) -> put_or_drop_timestamp(map, key, parse_timestamp(val))
+      _ -> Map.delete(map, key)
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp put_or_drop_timestamp(map, key, nil), do: Map.delete(map, key)
+  defp put_or_drop_timestamp(map, key, %DateTime{} = dt), do: Map.put(map, key, dt)
+
+  defp parse_timestamp(val) do
+    trimmed = String.trim(val)
+
+    # Accept `"YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM[:SS][Z]"` (form pre-fill, space sep) and
+    # the strict ISO `"YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ"` form. NaiveDateTime handles
+    # both separators and an optional seconds field.
+    iso = trimmed |> String.replace(" ", "T") |> ensure_seconds() |> String.trim_trailing("Z")
+
+    case NaiveDateTime.from_iso8601(iso) do
+      {:ok, ndt} -> DateTime.from_naive!(ndt, "Etc/UTC")
+      _ -> nil
+    end
+  end
+
+  defp ensure_seconds(s) do
+    # Add ":00" before any trailing "Z" / end-of-string when only HH:MM
+    # is present, since NaiveDateTime.from_iso8601 requires seconds.
+    case Regex.run(~r/^(\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}T\d{2}:\d{2})(Z?)$/, s) do
+      [_, prefix, tail] -> prefix <> ":00" <> tail
+      _ -> s
+    end
   end
 
   # HTML checkboxes arrive as "true"/"false" strings; Ecto won't coerce
diff --git a/test/microwaveprop/radio/contact_edit_test.exs b/test/microwaveprop/radio/contact_edit_test.exs
index ab4b668a..c108b1a4 100644
--- a/test/microwaveprop/radio/contact_edit_test.exs
+++ b/test/microwaveprop/radio/contact_edit_test.exs
@@ -400,6 +400,55 @@ defmodule Microwaveprop.Radio.ContactEditTest do
       assert updated.height1_ft == 30
       assert updated.terrain_status == :pending
     end
+
+    test "untouched form (qso_timestamp pre-fill string) is treated as no-op", %{user: user} do
+      # The /contacts/:id edit form pre-fills qso_timestamp via
+      # `Calendar.strftime(ts, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")`. When the user submits
+      # without touching it, the diff used to compare a string against
+      # the stored DateTime, treat it as a change, and then crash in
+      # build_contact_changes on `DateTime.from_iso8601("2026-04-01 14:00")`.
+      contact = owned_contact(user)
+      pre_fill = Calendar.strftime(contact.qso_timestamp, "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")
+
+      params = %{
+        "station1" => contact.station1,
+        "station2" => contact.station2,
+        "grid1" => contact.grid1,
+        "grid2" => contact.grid2,
+        "qso_timestamp" => pre_fill,
+        "mode" => contact.mode
+      }
+
+      assert {:error, :no_changes} = Radio.apply_owner_edit(contact, user, params)
+    end
+
+    test "owner can edit qso_timestamp via the form's space-separated input", %{user: user} do
+      contact = owned_contact(user)
+
+      {:ok, updated} =
+        Radio.apply_owner_edit(contact, user, %{"qso_timestamp" => "2026-04-01 15:30"})
+
+      assert updated.qso_timestamp == ~U[2026-04-01 15:30:00Z]
+    end
+
+    test "owner can edit qso_timestamp via ISO 8601 with seconds + Z", %{user: user} do
+      contact = owned_contact(user)
+
+      {:ok, updated} =
+        Radio.apply_owner_edit(contact, user, %{"qso_timestamp" => "2026-04-01T15:30:00Z"})
+
+      assert updated.qso_timestamp == ~U[2026-04-01 15:30:00Z]
+    end
+
+    test "unparseable qso_timestamp drops the field instead of crashing", %{user: user} do
+      contact = owned_contact(user)
+
+      # Submitting just a bogus timestamp with no other fields means no
+      # other changes to apply — apply_owner_edit returns :no_changes
+      # rather than raising a MatchError on DateTime.from_iso8601.
+      assert {:error, :no_changes} =
+               Radio.apply_owner_edit(contact, user, %{"qso_timestamp" => "not a real date"})
+    end
   end
 
   describe "Radio.owner?/2" do