diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/JsonRDD.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/JsonRDD.scala
index d9d7a3fea3963..d666a5cbf1a9f 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/JsonRDD.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/JsonRDD.scala
@@ -180,7 +180,10 @@ private[sql] object JsonRDD extends Logging {
   }
 
   private def typeOfPrimitiveValue: PartialFunction[Any, DataType] = {
-    ScalaReflection.typeOfObject orElse {
+    def autoDetect: PartialFunction[Any, DataType] = {
+      case value: String => DataTypeConversions.guessTypeFromString(value)
+    }
+    autoDetect orElse ScalaReflection.typeOfObject orElse {
       // Since we do not have a data type backed by BigInteger,
       // when we see a Java BigInteger, we use DecimalType.
       case value: java.math.BigInteger => DecimalType.Unlimited
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/util/DataTypeConversions.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/util/DataTypeConversions.scala
index d4258156f18f6..9e69552eab701 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/util/DataTypeConversions.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/util/DataTypeConversions.scala
@@ -131,6 +131,19 @@ protected[sql] object DataTypeConversions {
       StructType(structType.getFields.map(asScalaStructField))
   }
 
+  def guessTypeFromString(s:String): DataType = {
+    try {
+      val res = stringToTime(s)
+      if (res.isInstanceOf[java.sql.Date]) {
+        DateType
+      } else {
+        TimestampType
+      }
+    } catch {
+      case _: Throwable => StringType
+    }
+  }
+
   def stringToTime(s: String): java.util.Date = {
     if (!s.contains('T')) {
       // JDBC escape string
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/JsonSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/JsonSuite.scala
index f8ca2c773d9ab..648499931646e 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/JsonSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/JsonSuite.scala
@@ -202,7 +202,8 @@ class JsonSuite extends QueryTest {
       StructField("integer", IntegerType, true) ::
       StructField("long", LongType, true) ::
       StructField("null", StringType, true) ::
-      StructField("string", StringType, true) :: Nil)
+      StructField("string", StringType, true) ::
+      StructField("time", TimestampType, true) :: Nil)
 
     assert(expectedSchema === jsonSchemaRDD.schema)
 
@@ -216,7 +217,8 @@ class JsonSuite extends QueryTest {
       10,
       21474836470L,
       null,
-      "this is a simple string.") :: Nil
+      "this is a simple string.",
+      java.sql.Timestamp.valueOf("2014-11-11 12:00:00.0")) :: Nil
     )
   }
 
@@ -540,7 +542,8 @@ class JsonSuite extends QueryTest {
       StructField("integer", IntegerType, true) ::
       StructField("long", LongType, true) ::
       StructField("null", StringType, true) ::
-      StructField("string", StringType, true) :: Nil)
+      StructField("string", StringType, true) ::
+      StructField("time", TimestampType, true) :: Nil)
 
     assert(expectedSchema === jsonSchemaRDD.schema)
 
@@ -554,7 +557,8 @@ class JsonSuite extends QueryTest {
       10,
       21474836470L,
       null,
-      "this is a simple string.") :: Nil
+      "this is a simple string.",
+      java.sql.Timestamp.valueOf("2014-11-11 12:00:00.0")) :: Nil
     )
   }
 
@@ -580,7 +584,8 @@ class JsonSuite extends QueryTest {
         10,
         21474836470L,
         null,
-        "this is a simple string.") :: Nil
+        "this is a simple string.",
+        java.sql.Timestamp.valueOf("2014-11-11 12:00:00.0")) :: Nil
     )
   }
 
@@ -596,7 +601,8 @@ class JsonSuite extends QueryTest {
       StructField("integer", IntegerType, true) ::
       StructField("long", LongType, true) ::
       StructField("null", StringType, true) ::
-      StructField("string", StringType, true) :: Nil)
+      StructField("string", StringType, true) ::
+      StructField("time", TimestampType, true) :: Nil)
 
     val jsonSchemaRDD1 = jsonFile(path, schema)
 
@@ -612,7 +618,8 @@ class JsonSuite extends QueryTest {
       10,
       21474836470L,
       null,
-      "this is a simple string.") :: Nil
+      "this is a simple string.",
+      java.sql.Timestamp.valueOf("2014-11-11 12:00:00.0")) :: Nil
     )
 
     val jsonSchemaRDD2 = jsonRDD(primitiveFieldAndType, schema)
@@ -629,7 +636,8 @@ class JsonSuite extends QueryTest {
       10,
       21474836470L,
       null,
-      "this is a simple string.") :: Nil
+      "this is a simple string.",
+      java.sql.Timestamp.valueOf("2014-11-11 12:00:00.0")) :: Nil
     )
   }
 
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/TestJsonData.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/TestJsonData.scala
index e5773a55875bc..2810eab1e01b7 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/TestJsonData.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/json/TestJsonData.scala
@@ -29,7 +29,8 @@ object TestJsonData {
           "bigInteger":92233720368547758070,
           "double":1.7976931348623157E308,
           "boolean":true,
-          "null":null
+          "null":null,
+          "time":"2014-11-11 12:00:00.0"
       }"""  :: Nil)
 
   val primitiveFieldValueTypeConflict =