diff --git a/beets/util/__init__.py b/beets/util/__init__.py
index 263ff5671..bc19c1620 100644
--- a/beets/util/__init__.py
+++ b/beets/util/__init__.py
@@ -317,7 +317,11 @@ def sanitize_for_path(value, pathmod, key=None):
             if sep:
                 value = value.replace(sep, u'_')
     elif key in ('track', 'tracktotal', 'disc', 'disctotal'):
-        # pad with zeros
+        # Pad indices with zeros.
+        value = u'%02i' % value
+    elif key == 'year':
+        value = u'%04i' % value
+    elif key in ('month', 'day'):
         value = u'%02i' % value
     elif key == 'bitrate':
         # Bitrate gets formatted as kbps.
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 47c997550..b07307bf0 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ This release focuses on making beets' path formatting vastly more powerful.
   files (when tag-writing is enabled).
 * Add a message when skipping directories during an incremental import.
 * Ignore FUSE's shadow files when importing.
+* Date values in path formats (``$year``, ``$month``, and ``$day``) are now
+  appropriately zero-padded.
 * Removed the ``--path-format`` global flag for ``beet``.
 * Removed the ``lastid`` plugin, which was deprecated in the previous version.
 
diff --git a/test/test_db.py b/test/test_db.py
index 68eaf9175..e40ad5283 100644
--- a/test/test_db.py
+++ b/test/test_db.py
@@ -165,15 +165,23 @@ class DestinationTest(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_destination_pads_some_indices(self):
         self.lib.directory = 'base'
         self.lib.path_formats = {'default': '$track $tracktotal ' \
-            '$disc $disctotal $bpm $year'}
+            '$disc $disctotal $bpm'}
         self.i.track = 1
         self.i.tracktotal = 2
         self.i.disc = 3
         self.i.disctotal = 4
         self.i.bpm = 5
-        self.i.year = 6
         self.assertEqual(self.lib.destination(self.i),
-                         np('base/01 02 03 04 5 6'))
+                         np('base/01 02 03 04 5'))
+
+    def test_destination_pads_date_values(self):
+        self.lib.directory = 'base'
+        self.lib.path_formats = {'default': '$year-$month-$day'}
+        self.i.year = 1
+        self.i.month = 2
+        self.i.day = 3
+        self.assertEqual(self.lib.destination(self.i),
+                         np('base/0001-02-03'))
     
     def test_destination_escapes_slashes(self):
         self.i.album = 'one/two'