diff --git a/plann/timespec.py b/plann/timespec.py
index e4d257e..f991f53 100644
--- a/plann/timespec.py
+++ b/plann/timespec.py
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@
 import zoneinfo
 from dataclasses import dataclass
 
-import dateutil
-import dateutil.parser
+import dateparser
 
 """
 Most important content:
@@ -13,7 +12,8 @@
 * parse_timespec - parses a string (which may be a timestamp or an interval) into two datetimes
 * tz - a singleton containing the default timezones to be used
 
-parse_dt supports things like "+2h" or "now", while parse_timespec doesn't.
+parse_dt supports things like "+2h", "now", "yesterday", or "3 hours ago",
+while parse_timespec doesn't.
 
 The naming of those two are a bit arbitrary and may be changed in a future version of the library.  Old names will then continue working as legacy aliases.
 """
@@ -104,14 +104,17 @@ def _parse_dt(input, return_type=None):
         if return_type is datetime.datetime:
             return _ensure_ts(input)
         return input
-    ## dateutil.parser.parse does not recognize 'now'
     if input == 'now':
         ret = _now()
-    ## dateutil.parser.parse does not recognize '+2 hours', like date does.
     elif input.startswith('+'):
         ret = parse_add_dur(_now(), input[1:])
     else:
-        ret = dateutil.parser.parse(input)
+        settings: dict = {"RETURN_AS_TIMEZONE_AWARE": True, "PREFER_DATES_FROM": "current_period"}
+        if tz.implicit_timezone:
+            settings["TIMEZONE"] = str(tz.implicit_timezone)
+        ret = dateparser.parse(input, settings=settings)
+        if ret is None:
+            raise ValueError(f"Could not parse datetime string: {input!r}")
     if return_type is datetime.datetime:
         return _ensure_ts(ret)
     elif return_type is datetime.date:
@@ -209,12 +212,12 @@ def _parse_timespec(timespec):
             end = parse_add_dur(start, rx.group(2))
             return (start, end)
     try:
-        ## parse("2015-05-05 2015-05-05") does not throw the ParserError
-        if timespec.count('-')>3:
-            raise dateutil.parser.ParserError("Seems to be two dates here")
+        ## dateparser may misparse strings containing multiple dates; detect early
+        if timespec.count('-') > 3:
+            raise ValueError("Seems to be two dates here")
         ret = parse_dt(timespec)
-        return (ret,None)
-    except dateutil.parser.ParserError:
+        return (ret, None)
+    except ValueError:
         split_by_space = timespec.split(' ')
         if len(split_by_space) == 2:
             return (parse_dt(split_by_space[0]), parse_dt(split_by_space[1]))
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 78a86bd..ecdbd32 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ dependencies = [
     "PyYAML",
     "sortedcontainers",
     "tzlocal",
-    "python-dateutil",
+    "dateparser>=1.2",
     "icalendar",
 ]
 
diff --git a/tests/test_functional.py b/tests/test_functional.py
index 5d50226..4615081 100644
--- a/tests/test_functional.py
+++ b/tests/test_functional.py
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ def dag(obj, reltype, observed=None):
         assert len(ctx.obj['objs'])==0
 
         ## Journal tests
-        journal1 = _add_journal(ctx, summary=['bought new keyboard'], set_dtstart='2012-12-20')
+        _add_journal(ctx, summary=['bought new keyboard'], set_dtstart='2012-12-20')
         _select(ctx, journal=True)
         assert len(ctx.obj['objs'])==1
         _select(ctx, todo=True)
diff --git a/tests/test_timespec.py b/tests/test_timespec.py
index 0d3a2e0..2c3fda7 100644
--- a/tests/test_timespec.py
+++ b/tests/test_timespec.py
@@ -163,6 +163,36 @@ def testCalendarCliFormat(self):
         }
         self._testTimeSpec(expected)
 
+class TestNaturalLanguage:
+    """Tests for natural language date parsing enabled by switching to dateparser."""
+
+    def test_yesterday(self):
+        tz.implicit_timezone = "Europe/Oslo"
+        result = parse_dt("yesterday")
+        expected_date = (datetime.now().astimezone() - timedelta(days=1)).date()
+        assert result.date() == expected_date
+
+    def test_today(self):
+        tz.implicit_timezone = "Europe/Oslo"
+        result = parse_dt("today")
+        assert result.date() == datetime.now().astimezone().date()
+
+    def test_relative_hours_ago(self):
+        tz.implicit_timezone = "Europe/Oslo"
+        result = parse_dt("3 hours ago")
+        expected = datetime.now().astimezone() - timedelta(hours=3)
+        assert abs((result - expected).total_seconds()) < 5
+
+    def test_day_name(self):
+        tz.implicit_timezone = "Europe/Oslo"
+        result = parse_dt("Monday")
+        assert result.weekday() == 0  # Monday
+
+    def test_invalid_raises(self):
+        with pytest.raises(ValueError):
+            parse_dt("not a date at all !!!!")
+
+
 def test_ensure_ts():
     now = datetime.now()
     utcnow = now.astimezone(utc)