diff --git a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
index e5d88e859..17a3a0ac7 100644
--- a/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/NEXT_CHANGELOG.md
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 - Fixed `rollback()` to throw `SQLException` when called in auto-commit mode (no active transaction), aligning with JDBC spec. Previously it silently sent a ROLLBACK command to the server.
 - Fixed `fetchAutoCommitStateFromServer()` to accept both `"1"`/`"0"` and `"true"`/`"false"` responses from `SET AUTOCOMMIT` query, since different server implementations return different formats.
 - Fixed socket leak in SDK HTTP client that prevented CRaC checkpointing. The SDK's connection pool was not shut down on `connection.close()`, leaving TCP sockets open.
+- Fixed Date fields within complex types (ARRAY, STRUCT, MAP) being returned as epoch day integers instead of proper date values.
 
 ---
 *Note: When making changes, please add your change under the appropriate section
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/databricks/jdbc/api/impl/ComplexDataTypeParser.java b/src/main/java/com/databricks/jdbc/api/impl/ComplexDataTypeParser.java
index 834ffd304..787ba6e6a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/databricks/jdbc/api/impl/ComplexDataTypeParser.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/databricks/jdbc/api/impl/ComplexDataTypeParser.java
@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@
 import java.sql.Date;
 import java.sql.Time;
 import java.sql.Timestamp;
+import java.time.DateTimeException;
+import java.time.LocalDate;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Iterator;
 import java.util.LinkedHashMap;
@@ -204,7 +206,18 @@ private Object convertPrimitive(String text, String type) {
       case DatabricksTypeUtil.BOOLEAN:
         return Boolean.parseBoolean(text);
       case DatabricksTypeUtil.DATE:
-        return Date.valueOf(text);
+        try {
+          return Date.valueOf(text);
+        } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
+          // Arrow serializes DATE fields in nested types as epoch day integers.
+          // Fall back to parsing as epoch day count (days since 1970-01-01).
+          try {
+            return Date.valueOf(LocalDate.ofEpochDay(Long.parseLong(text)));
+          } catch (NumberFormatException | DateTimeException nfe) {
+            LOGGER.error(e, "Failed to parse DATE value '{}' as epoch day integer", text);
+            throw e;
+          }
+        }
       case DatabricksTypeUtil.TIMESTAMP:
         return parseTimestamp(text);
       case DatabricksTypeUtil.TIME:
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/databricks/jdbc/api/impl/ComplexDataTypeParserTest.java b/src/test/java/com/databricks/jdbc/api/impl/ComplexDataTypeParserTest.java
index def3f19a5..a935952f3 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/databricks/jdbc/api/impl/ComplexDataTypeParserTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/databricks/jdbc/api/impl/ComplexDataTypeParserTest.java
@@ -150,6 +150,92 @@ void testComplexPrimitiveTimestampWithOffset() throws DatabricksParsingException
     }
   }
 
+  @Test
+  void testDateAsEpochDayInStruct() throws DatabricksParsingException {
+    // Reproduces GitHub issue #1247: Date fields within ARRAY<STRUCT> are serialized
+    // as epoch day integers instead of ISO-8601 strings when coming from Arrow.
+    // Arrow's getObject() on nested types returns epoch day integers for DATE fields.
+    // 20487 = epoch day for 2026-02-03
+    String json = "[{\"event_date\":20487}]";
+
+    DatabricksArray dbArray =
+        parser.parseJsonStringToDbArray(json, "ARRAY<STRUCT<event_date:DATE>>");
+    assertNotNull(dbArray);
+
+    try {
+      Object[] elements = (Object[]) dbArray.getArray();
+      assertEquals(1, elements.length);
+      DatabricksStruct struct = (DatabricksStruct) elements[0];
+      Object[] attrs = struct.getAttributes();
+      assertEquals(1, attrs.length);
+      assertEquals(Date.valueOf("2026-02-03"), attrs[0]);
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      fail("Should not throw: " + e.getMessage());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void testDateAsEpochDayInArray() throws DatabricksParsingException {
+    // DATE inside a plain ARRAY — Arrow returns epoch day integers
+    String json = "[20487, 20488]";
+
+    DatabricksArray dbArray = parser.parseJsonStringToDbArray(json, "ARRAY<DATE>");
+    assertNotNull(dbArray);
+
+    try {
+      Object[] elements = (Object[]) dbArray.getArray();
+      assertEquals(2, elements.length);
+      assertEquals(Date.valueOf("2026-02-03"), elements[0]);
+      assertEquals(Date.valueOf("2026-02-04"), elements[1]);
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      fail("Should not throw: " + e.getMessage());
+    }
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void testDateAsEpochDayInMap() throws DatabricksParsingException {
+    // DATE as value in a MAP — Arrow returns epoch day integers
+    String json = "{\"key1\":20487, \"key2\":20488}";
+
+    DatabricksMap<String, Object> dbMap = parser.parseJsonStringToDbMap(json, "MAP<STRING,DATE>");
+    assertNotNull(dbMap);
+
+    assertEquals(Date.valueOf("2026-02-03"), dbMap.get("key1"));
+    assertEquals(Date.valueOf("2026-02-04"), dbMap.get("key2"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void testInvalidDateStringInStructThrowsOriginalException() {
+    // Non-numeric invalid date string should throw IllegalArgumentException, not
+    // NumberFormatException
+    String json = "[{\"event_date\":\"2026/02/03\"}]";
+
+    assertThrows(
+        IllegalArgumentException.class,
+        () -> parser.parseJsonStringToDbArray(json, "ARRAY<STRUCT<event_date:DATE>>"));
+  }
+
+  @Test
+  void testDateAsStringInStruct() throws DatabricksParsingException {
+    // Ensure ISO-8601 date strings still work in nested structs
+    String json = "[{\"event_date\":\"2026-02-03\"}]";
+
+    DatabricksArray dbArray =
+        parser.parseJsonStringToDbArray(json, "ARRAY<STRUCT<event_date:DATE>>");
+    assertNotNull(dbArray);
+
+    try {
+      Object[] elements = (Object[]) dbArray.getArray();
+      assertEquals(1, elements.length);
+      DatabricksStruct struct = (DatabricksStruct) elements[0];
+      Object[] attrs = struct.getAttributes();
+      assertEquals(1, attrs.length);
+      assertEquals(Date.valueOf("2026-02-03"), attrs[0]);
+    } catch (Exception e) {
+      fail("Should not throw: " + e.getMessage());
+    }
+  }
+
   @Test
   void testFormatComplexTypeString_withMapType() {
     String jsonString = "[{\"key\":1,\"value\":2},{\"key\":3,\"value\":4}]";