diff --git a/code/model/BlogPost.php b/code/model/BlogPost.php
index 567fa37..846fb2a 100644
--- a/code/model/BlogPost.php
+++ b/code/model/BlogPost.php
@@ -686,6 +686,17 @@ class BlogPost extends Page
         return $labels;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Proxy method for displaying the publish date in rss feeds.
+     * @see https://github.com/silverstripe/silverstripe-blog/issues/394
+     *
+     * @return string|null
+     */
+    public function getDate()
+    {
+        return !empty($this->PublishDate) ? $this->PublishDate : null;
+    }
+
     /**
      * {@inheritdoc}
      */
diff --git a/tests/BlogPostTest.php b/tests/BlogPostTest.php
index 37e66d5..c527604 100644
--- a/tests/BlogPostTest.php
+++ b/tests/BlogPostTest.php
@@ -94,4 +94,17 @@ class BlogPostTest extends SapphireTest
         $visitor = $this->objFromFixture('Member', 'Visitor');
         $this->assertFalse($blogPost->canView($visitor));
     }
+
+    /**
+     * The purpose of getDate() is to act as a proxy for PublishDate in the default RSS
+     * template, rather than copying the entire template.
+     */
+    public function testGetDate()
+    {
+        $blogPost = $this->objFromFixture('BlogPost', 'NullPublishDate');
+        $this->assertNull($blogPost->getDate());
+
+        $blogPost = $this->objFromFixture('BlogPost', 'PostA');
+        $this->assertEquals('2012-01-09 15:00:00', $blogPost->getDate());
+    }
 }