diff --git a/quartz/components/ContentMeta.tsx b/quartz/components/ContentMeta.tsx
index e378bccee..a091a3f2c 100644
--- a/quartz/components/ContentMeta.tsx
+++ b/quartz/components/ContentMeta.tsx
@@ -29,8 +29,9 @@ export default ((opts?: Partial<ContentMetaOptions>) => {
     if (text) {
       const segments: (string | JSX.Element)[] = []
 
-      if (fileData.dates) {
-        segments.push(<Date date={getDate(cfg, fileData)!} locale={cfg.locale} />)
+      const date = getDate(cfg, fileData)
+      if (date) {
+        segments.push(<Date date={date} locale={cfg.locale} />)
       }
 
       // Display reading time if enabled
diff --git a/quartz/components/PageList.tsx b/quartz/components/PageList.tsx
index 33bd8d730..58b2a1c04 100644
--- a/quartz/components/PageList.tsx
+++ b/quartz/components/PageList.tsx
@@ -8,13 +8,15 @@ export type SortFn = (f1: QuartzPluginData, f2: QuartzPluginData) => number
 
 export function byDateAndAlphabetical(cfg: GlobalConfiguration): SortFn {
   return (f1, f2) => {
-    if (f1.dates && f2.dates) {
+    const f1Date = getDate(cfg, f1)
+    const f2Date = getDate(cfg, f2)
+    if (f1Date && f2Date) {
       // sort descending
-      return getDate(cfg, f2)!.toMillis() - getDate(cfg, f1)!.toMillis()
-    } else if (f1.dates && !f2.dates) {
+      return f2Date.toMillis() - f1Date.toMillis()
+    } else if (f1Date && !f2Date) {
       // prioritize files with dates
       return -1
-    } else if (!f1.dates && f2.dates) {
+    } else if (!f1Date && f2Date) {
       return 1
     }
 
@@ -32,23 +34,19 @@ type Props = {
 
 export const PageList: QuartzComponent = ({ cfg, fileData, allFiles, limit, sort }: Props) => {
   const sorter = sort ?? byDateAndAlphabetical(cfg)
-  let list = allFiles.sort(sorter)
-  if (limit) {
-    list = list.slice(0, limit)
-  }
+  const list = allFiles.toSorted(sorter).slice(0, limit ?? allFiles.length)
 
   return (
     <ul class="section-ul">
       {list.map((page) => {
         const title = page.frontmatter?.title
         const tags = page.frontmatter?.tags ?? []
+        const date = getDate(cfg, page)
 
         return (
           <li class="section-li">
             <div class="section">
-              <p class="meta">
-                {page.dates && <Date date={getDate(cfg, page)!} locale={cfg.locale} />}
-              </p>
+              <p class="meta">{date && <Date date={date} locale={cfg.locale} />}</p>
               <div class="desc">
                 <h3>
                   <a href={resolveRelative(fileData.slug!, page.slug!)} class="internal">
diff --git a/quartz/components/RecentNotes.tsx b/quartz/components/RecentNotes.tsx
index 2c32feadf..b0c4f30d9 100644
--- a/quartz/components/RecentNotes.tsx
+++ b/quartz/components/RecentNotes.tsx
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ export default ((userOpts?: Partial<Options>) => {
           {pages.slice(0, opts.limit).map((page) => {
             const title = page.frontmatter?.title ?? i18n(cfg.locale).propertyDefaults.title
             const tags = page.frontmatter?.tags ?? []
+            const date = getDate(cfg, page)
 
             return (
               <li class="recent-li">
@@ -53,11 +54,7 @@ export default ((userOpts?: Partial<Options>) => {
                       </a>
                     </h3>
                   </div>
-                  {page.dates && (
-                    <p class="meta">
-                      <Date date={getDate(cfg, page)!} locale={cfg.locale} />
-                    </p>
-                  )}
+                  <p class="meta">{date && <Date date={date} locale={cfg.locale} />}</p>
                   {opts.showTags && (
                     <ul class="tags">
                       {tags.map((tag) => (
diff --git a/quartz/plugins/transformers/lastmod.ts b/quartz/plugins/transformers/lastmod.ts
index 3dd772a4d..4043695e2 100644
--- a/quartz/plugins/transformers/lastmod.ts
+++ b/quartz/plugins/transformers/lastmod.ts
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@ export const CreatedModifiedDate: QuartzTransformerPlugin<Partial<Options>> = (u
             for (const source of opts.priority) {
               if (source === "filesystem") {
                 const st = await fs.promises.stat(fullFp)
-                created ||= DateTime.fromMillis(st.birthtimeMs)
+                // birthtime can be 0 on some filesystems, so default to the earlier of ctime/mtime
+                created ||= DateTime.fromMillis(st.birthtimeMs || Math.min(st.ctimeMs, st.mtimeMs))
                 modified ||= DateTime.fromMillis(st.mtimeMs)
               } else if (source === "frontmatter" && file.data.frontmatter) {
                 created ||= parseDateString(fp, file.data.frontmatter.date, parseOpts)
@@ -106,9 +107,9 @@ export const CreatedModifiedDate: QuartzTransformerPlugin<Partial<Options>> = (u
             }
 
             file.data.dates = {
-              created: created ?? DateTime.now(),
-              modified: modified ?? DateTime.now(),
-              published: published ?? DateTime.now(),
+              created: created,
+              modified: modified,
+              published: published,
             }
           }
         },
@@ -119,10 +120,10 @@ export const CreatedModifiedDate: QuartzTransformerPlugin<Partial<Options>> = (u
 
 declare module "vfile" {
   interface DataMap {
-    dates: {
+    dates: Partial<{
       created: DateTime
       modified: DateTime
       published: DateTime
-    }
+    }>
   }
 }