diff --git a/app/Http/Requests/StoreAssetRequest.php b/app/Http/Requests/StoreAssetRequest.php
index d87d5bc2f..8e7559673 100644
--- a/app/Http/Requests/StoreAssetRequest.php
+++ b/app/Http/Requests/StoreAssetRequest.php
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ namespace App\Http\Requests;
 use App\Models\Asset;
 use App\Models\Company;
 use Carbon\Carbon;
+use Carbon\Exceptions\InvalidFormatException;
 use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Gate;
 
 class StoreAssetRequest extends ImageUploadRequest
@@ -28,11 +29,7 @@ class StoreAssetRequest extends ImageUploadRequest
             ? Company::getIdForCurrentUser($this->company_id)
             : $this->company_id;
 
-        if ($this->input('last_audit_date')) {
-            $this->merge([
-                'last_audit_date' => Carbon::parse($this->input('last_audit_date'))->startOfDay()->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'),
-            ]);
-        }
+        $this->parseLastAuditDate();
 
         $this->merge([
             'asset_tag' => $this->asset_tag ?? Asset::autoincrement_asset(),
@@ -55,4 +52,21 @@ class StoreAssetRequest extends ImageUploadRequest
 
         return $rules;
     }
+
+    private function parseLastAuditDate(): void
+    {
+        if ($this->input('last_audit_date')) {
+            try {
+                $lastAuditDate = Carbon::parse($this->input('last_audit_date'));
+
+                $this->merge([
+                    'last_audit_date' => $lastAuditDate->startOfDay()->format('Y-m-d H:i:s'),
+                ]);
+            } catch (InvalidFormatException $e) {
+                // we don't need to do anything here...
+                // we'll keep the provided date in an
+                // invalid format so validation picks it up later
+            }
+        }
+    }
 }
diff --git a/tests/Feature/Api/Assets/AssetStoreTest.php b/tests/Feature/Api/Assets/AssetStoreTest.php
index 4b4f66f3d..e98da36cf 100644
--- a/tests/Feature/Api/Assets/AssetStoreTest.php
+++ b/tests/Feature/Api/Assets/AssetStoreTest.php
@@ -113,6 +113,20 @@ class AssetStoreTest extends TestCase
         $this->assertNull($asset->last_audit_date);
     }
 
+    public function testNonDateUsedForLastAuditDateReturnsValidationError()
+    {
+        $response = $this->actingAsForApi(User::factory()->superuser()->create())
+            ->postJson(route('api.assets.store'), [
+                'last_audit_date' => 'this-is-not-valid',
+                'asset_tag' => '1234',
+                'model_id' => AssetModel::factory()->create()->id,
+                'status_id' => Statuslabel::factory()->create()->id,
+            ])
+            ->assertStatusMessageIs('error');
+
+        $this->assertNotNull($response->json('messages.last_audit_date'));
+    }
+
     public function testArchivedDepreciateAndPhysicalCanBeNull()
     {
         $model = AssetModel::factory()->ipadModel()->create();