diff --git a/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/AzureStorageOrchestrationService.cs b/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/AzureStorageOrchestrationService.cs
index 606e07b41..62183b622 100644
--- a/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/AzureStorageOrchestrationService.cs
+++ b/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/AzureStorageOrchestrationService.cs
@@ -1106,6 +1106,17 @@ public async Task CompleteTaskOrchestrationWorkItemAsync(
             TaskMessage continuedAsNewMessage,
             OrchestrationState orchestrationState)
         {
+            // for backwards compatibility, we transform timer timestamps to UTC prior to persisting in Azure Storage.
+            // see: https://github.com/Azure/durabletask/pull/1138
+            foreach (var orchestratorMessage in orchestratorMessages)
+            {
+                Utils.ConvertDateTimeInHistoryEventsToUTC(orchestratorMessage.Event);
+            }
+            foreach (var timerMessage in timerMessages)
+            {
+                Utils.ConvertDateTimeInHistoryEventsToUTC(timerMessage.Event);
+            }   
+
             OrchestrationSession session;
             if (!this.orchestrationSessionManager.TryGetExistingSession(workItem.InstanceId, out session))
             {
@@ -1687,6 +1698,8 @@ public async Task CreateTaskOrchestrationAsync(TaskMessage creationMessage, Orch
                 throw new ArgumentException($"Only {nameof(EventType.ExecutionStarted)} messages are supported.", nameof(creationMessage));
             }
 
+            Utils.ConvertDateTimeInHistoryEventsToUTC(creationMessage.Event);
+
             // Client operations will auto-create the task hub if it doesn't already exist.
             await this.EnsureTaskHubAsync();
 
diff --git a/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/Tracking/AzureTableTrackingStore.cs b/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/Tracking/AzureTableTrackingStore.cs
index bcb3f1f2c..ee50191e7 100644
--- a/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/Tracking/AzureTableTrackingStore.cs
+++ b/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/Tracking/AzureTableTrackingStore.cs
@@ -846,6 +846,9 @@ public override Task StartAsync(CancellationToken cancellationToken = default)
                 bool isFinalEvent = i == newEvents.Count - 1;
 
                 HistoryEvent historyEvent = newEvents[i];
+                // For backwards compatibility, we convert timer timestamps to UTC prior to persisting to Azure Storage
+                // see: https://github.com/Azure/durabletask/pull/1138
+                Utils.ConvertDateTimeInHistoryEventsToUTC(historyEvent);
                 var historyEntity = TableEntityConverter.Serialize(historyEvent);
                 historyEntity.PartitionKey = sanitizedInstanceId;
 
diff --git a/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/Utils.cs b/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/Utils.cs
index 7db878ffc..3e9ca4524 100644
--- a/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/Utils.cs
+++ b/src/DurableTask.AzureStorage/Utils.cs
@@ -272,5 +272,36 @@ public static object DeserializeFromJson(JsonSerializer serializer, string jsonS
             }
             return obj;
         }
+
+        public static void ConvertDateTimeInHistoryEventsToUTC(HistoryEvent historyEvent)
+        {
+            switch (historyEvent.EventType)
+            {
+                case EventType.ExecutionStarted:
+                    var executionStartedEvent = (ExecutionStartedEvent)historyEvent;
+                    if (executionStartedEvent.ScheduledStartTime.HasValue &&
+                        executionStartedEvent.ScheduledStartTime.Value.Kind != DateTimeKind.Utc)
+                    {
+                        executionStartedEvent.ScheduledStartTime = executionStartedEvent.ScheduledStartTime.Value.ToUniversalTime();
+                    }
+                    break;
+
+                case EventType.TimerCreated:
+                    var timerCreatedEvent = (TimerCreatedEvent)historyEvent;
+                    if (timerCreatedEvent.FireAt.Kind != DateTimeKind.Utc)
+                    {
+                        timerCreatedEvent.FireAt = timerCreatedEvent.FireAt.ToUniversalTime();
+                    }
+                    break;
+
+                case EventType.TimerFired:
+                    var timerFiredEvent = (TimerFiredEvent)historyEvent;
+                    if (timerFiredEvent.FireAt.Kind != DateTimeKind.Utc)
+                    {
+                        timerFiredEvent.FireAt = timerFiredEvent.FireAt.ToUniversalTime();
+                    }
+                    break;
+            }
+        }
     }
 }
diff --git a/test/DurableTask.AzureStorage.Tests/AzureStorageScenarioTests.cs b/test/DurableTask.AzureStorage.Tests/AzureStorageScenarioTests.cs
index 7dadb01ee..96495fde4 100644
--- a/test/DurableTask.AzureStorage.Tests/AzureStorageScenarioTests.cs
+++ b/test/DurableTask.AzureStorage.Tests/AzureStorageScenarioTests.cs
@@ -1285,6 +1285,71 @@ public async Task TimerExpiration(bool enableExtendedSessions)
             }
         }
 
+        [DataTestMethod]
+        [DataRow(true)]
+        [DataRow(false)]
+        public async Task TimerDelay(bool useUtc)
+        {
+            using (TestOrchestrationHost host = TestHelpers.GetTestOrchestrationHost(false))
+            {
+                await host.StartAsync();
+                // by convention, DateTime objects are expected to be in UTC, but previous version of DTFx.AzureStorage
+                // performed a implicit conversions to UTC when different timezones where used. This test ensures
+                // that behavior is backwards compatible, despite not being recommended.
+                var startTime = useUtc ? DateTime.UtcNow : DateTime.Now;
+                var delay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);
+                var fireAt = startTime.Add(delay);
+                var client = await host.StartOrchestrationAsync(typeof(Orchestrations.DelayedCurrentTimeInline), fireAt);
+
+                var status = await client.WaitForCompletionAsync(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30));
+                Assert.AreEqual(OrchestrationStatus.Completed, status?.OrchestrationStatus);
+
+                var actualDelay = DateTime.UtcNow - startTime.ToUniversalTime();
+                Assert.IsTrue(
+                    actualDelay >= delay && actualDelay < delay + TimeSpan.FromSeconds(10),
+                    $"Expected delay: {delay}, ActualDelay: {actualDelay}");
+
+                await host.StopAsync();
+            }
+        }
+
+        [DataTestMethod]
+        [DataRow(false)]
+        [DataRow(true)]
+        public async Task OrchestratorStartAtAcceptsAllDateTimeKinds(bool useUtc)
+        {
+            using (TestOrchestrationHost host = TestHelpers.GetTestOrchestrationHost(false))
+            {
+                await host.StartAsync();
+                // by convention, DateTime objects are expected to be in UTC, but previous version of DTFx.AzureStorage
+                // performed a implicit conversions to UTC when different timezones where used. This test ensures
+                // that behavior is backwards compatible, despite not being recommended.
+
+                // set up orchestrator start time
+                var currentTime = DateTime.Now;
+                var delay = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(5);
+                var startAt = currentTime.Add(delay);
+
+                if (useUtc)
+                {
+                    startAt = startAt.ToUniversalTime();
+                }
+
+
+                var client = await host.StartOrchestrationAsync(typeof(Orchestrations.CurrentTimeInline), input: string.Empty, startAt: startAt);
+
+                var status = await client.WaitForCompletionAsync(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(30));
+                Assert.AreEqual(OrchestrationStatus.Completed, status?.OrchestrationStatus);
+
+                var orchestratorState = await client.GetStateAsync(client.InstanceId);
+                var actualScheduledStartTime = status.ScheduledStartTime;
+
+                // internal representation of DateTime is always UTC
+                var expectedScheduledStartTime = startAt.ToUniversalTime();
+                Assert.AreEqual(expectedScheduledStartTime, actualScheduledStartTime);
+                await host.StopAsync();
+            }
+        }
         /// <summary>
         /// End-to-end test which validates that orchestrations run concurrently of each other (up to 100 by default).
         /// </summary>
@@ -3304,11 +3369,11 @@ public override Task<DateTime> RunTask(OrchestrationContext context, string inpu
                 }
             }
 
-            internal class DelayedCurrentTimeInline : TaskOrchestration<DateTime, string>
+            internal class DelayedCurrentTimeInline : TaskOrchestration<DateTime, DateTime>
             {
-                public override async Task<DateTime> RunTask(OrchestrationContext context, string input)
+                public override async Task<DateTime> RunTask(OrchestrationContext context, DateTime fireAt)
                 {
-                    await context.CreateTimer<bool>(context.CurrentUtcDateTime.Add(TimeSpan.FromSeconds(3)), true);
+                    await context.CreateTimer<bool>(fireAt, true);
                     return context.CurrentUtcDateTime;
                 }
             }