diff --git a/collects/mzlib/date.rkt b/collects/mzlib/date.rkt
index 973f220151..597815e190 100644
--- a/collects/mzlib/date.rkt
+++ b/collects/mzlib/date.rkt
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
          racket/contract)
 
 (provide/contract
+ [current-date (-> date?)]
  [date->string ((date?) (boolean?) . ->* . string?)]
  [date-display-format (parameter/c (symbols 'american 'chinese 'german 'indian 'irish 'julian 'iso-8601 'rfc2822))]
  [find-seconds ((integer-in 0 61)
@@ -19,6 +20,9 @@
  [date->julian/scalinger (date? . -> . exact-integer?)]
  [julian/scalinger->string (exact-integer? . -> . string?)])
 
+(define (current-date)
+  (seconds->date (current-seconds)))
+
 ;; Support for Julian calendar added by Shriram;
 ;; current version only works until 2099 CE Gregorian
 
diff --git a/collects/scribblings/reference/time.scrbl b/collects/scribblings/reference/time.scrbl
index 9a487a1523..dd9b7b9905 100644
--- a/collects/scribblings/reference/time.scrbl
+++ b/collects/scribblings/reference/time.scrbl
@@ -125,6 +125,10 @@ result is the result of @racket[expr].}
 
 @note-lib-only[racket/date]
 
+@defproc[(current-date) date?]{
+                         
+An abbreviation for @racket[(seconds->date (current-seconds))].}
+
 @defproc[(date->string [date date?] [time? any/c #f]) string?]{
 
 Converts a date to a string. The returned string contains the time of