diff --git a/src/app.rs b/src/app.rs
index 8964dcc78..cb6135c78 100644
--- a/src/app.rs
+++ b/src/app.rs
@@ -290,11 +290,10 @@ fn validate_date_argument(arg: String) -> Result<(), String> {
 }
 
 pub fn validate_time_format(formatter: &str) -> Result<(), String> {
-    let str = formatter.to_string();
-    let vec: Vec<&str> = str.split('\n').collect();
+    let vec: Vec<&str> = formatter.split('\n').collect();
 
     if vec.len() > 2 {
-        return Err("invalid format, can only contain one newline separator".to_owned());
+        return Err("invalid date format, cannot contain more than two entries".to_owned());
     }
 
     for s in vec {
diff --git a/src/meta/date.rs b/src/meta/date.rs
index 2f82d32ad..b952c38fe 100644
--- a/src/meta/date.rs
+++ b/src/meta/date.rs
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ impl Date {
                 DateFlag::Formatted(format) => {
                     let vec: Vec<&str> = format.split('\n').collect();
 
-                    if vec.len() == 1 || *val > Local::now() - Duration::seconds(15_778_476) {
+                    if vec.len() == 1 || *val < Local::now() - Duration::seconds(15_778_476) {
                         // non-recent or only one format
                         val.format(vec[0]).to_string()
                     } else {