diff --git a/server/scan/device_handling.py b/server/scan/device_handling.py
index 612e888a..5ebfb343 100755
--- a/server/scan/device_handling.py
+++ b/server/scan/device_handling.py
@@ -558,20 +558,20 @@ def check_plugin_data_changed(pm, plugins_to_check):
             continue
 
         # Normalize and validate last_changed timestamp
-        last_changed_ts = normalizeTimeStamp(str(last_data_change))
+        last_changed_ts = normalizeTimeStamp(last_data_change)
 
         if last_changed_ts == None:
-            mylog('none', f'[check_plugin_data_changed] Unexpected last_data_change timestamp for {plugin_name}: {last_data_change}')
+            mylog('none', f'[check_plugin_data_changed] Unexpected last_data_change timestamp for {plugin_name} (input|output): ({last_data_change}|{last_changed_ts})')
 
         # Normalize and validate last_data_check timestamp
-        last_data_check_ts = normalizeTimeStamp(str(last_data_check))
+        last_data_check_ts = normalizeTimeStamp(last_data_check)
 
         if last_data_check_ts == None:
-            mylog('none', f'[check_plugin_data_changed] Unexpected last_data_check timestamp for {plugin_name}: {last_data_check}')
+            mylog('none', f'[check_plugin_data_changed] Unexpected last_data_check timestamp for {plugin_name} (input|output): ({last_data_check}|{last_data_check_ts})')
 
         # Track which plugins have newer state than last_checked
         if last_data_check_ts is None or last_changed_ts is None or last_changed_ts > last_data_check_ts:
-            mylog('debug', f'[check_plugin_data_changed] plugin_name changed last_changed_ts | last_data_check_ts: {last_changed_ts} | {last_data_check_ts}')
+            mylog('debug', f'[check_plugin_data_changed] {plugin_name} changed (last_changed_ts|last_data_check_ts): ({last_changed_ts}|{last_data_check_ts})')
             plugins_changed.append(plugin_name)
 
     # Skip if no plugin state changed since last check
diff --git a/server/utils/datetime_utils.py b/server/utils/datetime_utils.py
index 16bba58c..21fab835 100644
--- a/server/utils/datetime_utils.py
+++ b/server/utils/datetime_utils.py
@@ -4,7 +4,9 @@ import os
 import pathlib
 import sys
 from datetime import datetime
+from dateutil import parser
 import datetime
+import re
 import pytz
 from pytz import timezone
 from typing import Union
@@ -23,6 +25,10 @@ from const import *
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 # DateTime
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+DATETIME_PATTERN = "%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S"
+DATETIME_REGEX = re.compile(r'^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2} \d{2}:\d{2}:\d{2}$')
+
 def timeNowTZ():
     if conf.tz:
         return datetime.datetime.now(conf.tz).replace(microsecond=0)
@@ -56,9 +62,9 @@ def timeNowDB(local=True):
                 tz = None
         except Exception:
             tz = None
-        return datetime.datetime.now(tz).strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
+        return datetime.datetime.now(tz).strftime(DATETIME_PATTERN)
     else:
-        return datetime.datetime.now(datetime.UTC).strftime('%Y-%m-%d %H:%M:%S')
+        return datetime.datetime.now(datetime.UTC).strftime(DATETIME_PATTERN)
 
 
 #-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -85,7 +91,7 @@ def normalizeTimeStamp(inputTimeStamp):
 
     # Epoch timestamp (integer or float)
     if isinstance(inputTimeStamp, (int, float)):
-        try:
+        try:            
             return datetime.datetime.fromtimestamp(inputTimeStamp)
         except (OSError, OverflowError, ValueError):
             return None
@@ -96,8 +102,14 @@ def normalizeTimeStamp(inputTimeStamp):
         if not inputTimeStamp:
             return None
         try:
-            # Handles SQLite and ISO8601 automatically
-            return parser.parse(inputTimeStamp)
+            # match the "2025-11-08 14:32:10" format
+            pattern = DATETIME_REGEX
+
+            if pattern.match(inputTimeStamp):
+                return datetime.datetime.strptime(inputTimeStamp, DATETIME_PATTERN)
+            else:
+                # Handles SQLite and ISO8601 automatically
+                return parser.parse(inputTimeStamp)
         except Exception:
             return None