diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2ff747ab7..784d5b10a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0
 - Fixed PHP8.1 deprecation errors in modifiers (upper, explode, number_format and replace) [#755](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty/pull/755) and [#788](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty/pull/788)
 - Fixed PHP8.1 deprecation errors in capitalize modifier [#789](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty/issues/789)
 - Fixed use of `rand()` without a parameter in math function [#794](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty/issues/794)
+- Fixed unselected year/month/day not working in html_select_date [#395](https://github.com/smarty-php/smarty/issues/395)
 
 ## [4.2.0] - 2022-08-01
 
diff --git a/libs/plugins/function.html_select_date.php b/libs/plugins/function.html_select_date.php
index 763fc60f9..a396046b2 100644
--- a/libs/plugins/function.html_select_date.php
+++ b/libs/plugins/function.html_select_date.php
@@ -101,6 +101,7 @@ function smarty_function_html_select_date($params, Smarty_Internal_Template $tem
     $field_separator = "\n";
     $option_separator = "\n";
     $time = null;
+
     // $all_empty = null;
     // $day_empty = null;
     // $month_empty = null;
@@ -113,17 +114,7 @@ function smarty_function_html_select_date($params, Smarty_Internal_Template $tem
     foreach ($params as $_key => $_value) {
         switch ($_key) {
             case 'time':
-                if (!is_array($_value) && $_value !== null) {
-                    $template->_checkPlugins(
-                        array(
-                            array(
-                                'function' => 'smarty_make_timestamp',
-                                'file'     => SMARTY_PLUGINS_DIR . 'shared.make_timestamp.php'
-                            )
-                        )
-                    );
-                    $time = smarty_make_timestamp($_value);
-                }
+                $$_key = $_value; // we'll handle conversion below
                 break;
             case 'month_names':
                 if (is_array($_value) && count($_value) === 12) {
@@ -178,43 +169,59 @@ function smarty_function_html_select_date($params, Smarty_Internal_Template $tem
     }
     // Note: date() is faster than strftime()
     // Note: explode(date()) is faster than date() date() date()
-    if (isset($params[ 'time' ]) && is_array($params[ 'time' ])) {
-        if (isset($params[ 'time' ][ $prefix . 'Year' ])) {
+
+    if (isset($time) && is_array($time)) {
+        if (isset($time[$prefix . 'Year'])) {
             // $_REQUEST[$field_array] given
-            foreach (array(
-                'Y' => 'Year',
-                'm' => 'Month',
-                'd' => 'Day'
-            ) as $_elementKey => $_elementName) {
+            foreach ([
+                         'Y' => 'Year',
+                         'm' => 'Month',
+                         'd' => 'Day'
+                     ] as $_elementKey => $_elementName) {
                 $_variableName = '_' . strtolower($_elementName);
                 $$_variableName =
-                    isset($params[ 'time' ][ $prefix . $_elementName ]) ? $params[ 'time' ][ $prefix . $_elementName ] :
+                    isset($time[$prefix . $_elementName]) ? $time[$prefix . $_elementName] :
                         date($_elementKey);
             }
-        } elseif (isset($params[ 'time' ][ $field_array ][ $prefix . 'Year' ])) {
+        } elseif (isset($time[$field_array][$prefix . 'Year'])) {
             // $_REQUEST given
-            foreach (array(
-                'Y' => 'Year',
-                'm' => 'Month',
-                'd' => 'Day'
-            ) as $_elementKey => $_elementName) {
+            foreach ([
+                         'Y' => 'Year',
+                         'm' => 'Month',
+                         'd' => 'Day'
+                     ] as $_elementKey => $_elementName) {
                 $_variableName = '_' . strtolower($_elementName);
-                $$_variableName = isset($params[ 'time' ][ $field_array ][ $prefix . $_elementName ]) ?
-                    $params[ 'time' ][ $field_array ][ $prefix . $_elementName ] : date($_elementKey);
+                $$_variableName = isset($time[$field_array][$prefix . $_elementName]) ?
+                    $time[$field_array][$prefix . $_elementName] : date($_elementKey);
             }
         } else {
             // no date found, use NOW
-            list($_year, $_month, $_day) = $time = explode('-', date('Y-m-d'));
+            [$_year, $_month, $_day] = explode('-', date('Y-m-d'));
         }
+    } elseif (isset($time) && preg_match("/(\d*)-(\d*)-(\d*)/", $time, $matches)) {
+        $_year = $_month = $_day = null;
+        if ($matches[1] > '') $_year = (int) $matches[1];
+        if ($matches[2] > '') $_month = (int) $matches[2];
+        if ($matches[3] > '') $_day = (int) $matches[3];
     } elseif ($time === null) {
         if (array_key_exists('time', $params)) {
-            $_year = $_month = $_day = $time = null;
+            $_year = $_month = $_day = null;
         } else {
-            list($_year, $_month, $_day) = $time = explode('-', date('Y-m-d'));
+            [$_year, $_month, $_day] = explode('-', date('Y-m-d'));
         }
     } else {
-        list($_year, $_month, $_day) = $time = explode('-', date('Y-m-d', $time));
+        $template->_checkPlugins(
+            array(
+                array(
+                    'function' => 'smarty_make_timestamp',
+                    'file'     => SMARTY_PLUGINS_DIR . 'shared.make_timestamp.php'
+                )
+            )
+        );
+        $time = smarty_make_timestamp($time);
+        [$_year, $_month, $_day] = explode('-', date('Y-m-d', $time));
     }
+
     // make syntax "+N" or "-N" work with $start_year and $end_year
     // Note preg_match('!^(\+|\-)\s*(\d+)$!', $end_year, $match) is slower than trim+substr
     foreach (array(
diff --git a/tests/UnitTests/TemplateSource/TagTests/PluginFunction/PluginFunctionHtmlSelectDateTest.php b/tests/UnitTests/TemplateSource/TagTests/PluginFunction/PluginFunctionHtmlSelectDateTest.php
index 26ea6faa8..0cf4f9ba7 100644
--- a/tests/UnitTests/TemplateSource/TagTests/PluginFunction/PluginFunctionHtmlSelectDateTest.php
+++ b/tests/UnitTests/TemplateSource/TagTests/PluginFunction/PluginFunctionHtmlSelectDateTest.php
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class PluginFunctionHtmlSelectDateTest extends PHPUnit_Smarty
     public function setUp(): void
     {
         $this->setUpSmarty(dirname(__FILE__));
-	    $this->smarty->setErrorReporting(E_ALL & ~E_DEPRECATED);
+        $this->smarty->setErrorReporting(E_ALL & ~E_DEPRECATED);
 
         $year = date('Y');
         $this->now = mktime(15, 0, 0, 2, 20, $year);
@@ -239,6 +239,7 @@ public function setUp(): void
 
         $this->years['default'] = "<option value=\"{$year}\" selected=\"selected\">{$year}</option>";
         $this->years['none'] = "<option value=\"{$year}\">{$year}</option>";
+
     }
 
     protected function reverse($string)
@@ -395,6 +396,33 @@ public function testEmptyUnset()
         $this->assertEquals($result, $tpl->fetch());
     }
 
+    public function testEmptyDayWithDateString() {
+        $n = "\n";
+        $result = '<select name="Date_Month">' . $n . $this->months['default'] . $n . '</select>'
+            . $n . '<select name="Date_Day">' . $n . '<option value="">day</option>' . $n . $this->days['none'] . $n . '</select>'
+            . $n . '<select name="Date_Year">' . $n . $this->years['start_2005'] . $n . '</select>';
+        $tpl = $this->smarty->createTemplate('eval:{html_select_date time="2022-02-" day_empty="day" start_year=2005}');
+        $this->assertEquals($result, $tpl->fetch());
+    }
+
+    public function testEmptyMonthWithDateStrings() {
+        $n = "\n";
+        $result = '<select name="Date_Month">' . $n . '<option value="">month</option>' . $n . $this->months['none'] . $n . '</select>'
+            . $n . '<select name="Date_Day">' . $n . $this->days['default'] . $n . '</select>'
+            . $n . '<select name="Date_Year">' . $n . $this->years['start_2005'] . $n . '</select>';
+        $tpl = $this->smarty->createTemplate('eval:{html_select_date time="2022--20" month_empty="month" start_year=2005}');
+        $this->assertEquals($result, $tpl->fetch());
+    }
+
+    public function testEmptyYearWithDateStrings() {
+        $n = "\n";
+        $result = '<select name="Date_Month">' . $n . $this->months['default'] . $n . '</select>'
+            . $n . '<select name="Date_Day">' . $n . $this->days['default'] . $n . '</select>'
+            . $n . '<select name="Date_Year">' . $n . '<option value="">year</option>' . $n . $this->years['none'] . $n . '</select>';
+        $tpl = $this->smarty->createTemplate('eval:{html_select_date time="-02-20" year_empty="year"}');
+        $this->assertEquals($result, $tpl->fetch());
+    }
+
     public function testId()
     {
         $n = "\n";