diff --git a/maya.py b/maya.py
index cbe2839..47943b1 100644
--- a/maya.py
+++ b/maya.py
@@ -196,13 +196,14 @@ def when(string, timezone='UTC'):
 
     return MayaDT.from_datetime(dt)
 
-def parse(string):
+def parse(string, dayfirst=False):
     """"Returns a MayaDT instance for the machine-produced moment specified.
 
     Powered by dateutil. Accepts most known formats. Useful for working with data.
 
     Keyword Arguments:
         string -- string to be parsed
+        dayfirst -- if true, the first value in date string (e.g. 01/05/2016) is parsed as day; otherwise it is parsed as month (default: False)    
     """
-    dt = dateutil.parser.parse(string)
+    dt = dateutil.parser.parse(string, dayfirst=dayfirst)
     return MayaDT.from_datetime(dt)
diff --git a/test_maya.py b/test_maya.py
index 2443fa2..31deaaa 100644
--- a/test_maya.py
+++ b/test_maya.py
@@ -83,4 +83,10 @@ def test_format():
     d = maya.parse('February 21, 1994')
     assert format(d) == '1994-02-21 00:00:00+00:00'
 
+    d = maya.parse('01/05/2016')
+    assert format(d) == '2016-01-05 00:00:00+00:00'
+
+    d = maya.parse('01/05/2016', dayfirst=True)
+    assert format(d) == '2016-05-01 00:00:00+00:00'
+
 # rand_day = maya.when('2011-02-07', timezone='US/Eastern')