diff --git a/benchmarks/src/Datasets/OrdersDataset.php b/benchmarks/src/Datasets/OrdersDataset.php
index 2cf15cb0a..3cf1997f3 100644
--- a/benchmarks/src/Datasets/OrdersDataset.php
+++ b/benchmarks/src/Datasets/OrdersDataset.php
@@ -32,7 +32,10 @@ public function csv(): string
 
         $fixture->prune();
 
-        data_frame()->read(from_parquet($this->parquet()))->write(to_csv($fixture->path()))->run();
+        data_frame()
+            ->read(from_parquet($this->parquet()))
+            ->write(to_csv($fixture->path())->withDateTimeFormat('Y-m-d\TH:i:sp'))
+            ->run();
 
         return $fixture->path();
     }
diff --git a/src/extension/flow-php-ext/src/cast.rs b/src/extension/flow-php-ext/src/cast.rs
index 7a849804b..f2f7baad2 100644
--- a/src/extension/flow-php-ext/src/cast.rs
+++ b/src/extension/flow-php-ext/src/cast.rs
@@ -595,14 +595,25 @@ fn cast_value(kind: &CastKind, value: &Zval, ctx: &mut Ctx) -> Result<Option<Zva
                 // Only DateTimeType::cast's ISO branch is mirrored: its regex and checkdate() are exact, and
                 // what passes them goes straight to the constructor. Every other string is gated on
                 // StringTemporalParts, whose recogniser is a PHP class, so it bails whole
-                if iso_date_time_gate(string.as_bytes()) {
-                    // None (e.g. "25:99:99") bails, and PHP throws the same exception
-                    date_from_free_form(string.as_bytes(), ctx)?
-                } else {
+                let bytes = string.as_bytes();
+
+                // None (e.g. "25:99:99") from either parse bails, and PHP throws the same exception
+                if !iso_date_time_gate(bytes) {
                     None
+                } else if let Some(local) = bytes
+                    .strip_suffix(b"\n")
+                    .unwrap_or(bytes)
+                    .strip_suffix(b"Z")
+                {
+                    // mirrors DateTimeType::cast's Z branch
+                    let mut zulu = ctx.timezone(b"Z")?.shallow_clone();
+
+                    date_from_free_form(local, Some(&mut zulu), ctx)?
+                } else {
+                    date_from_free_form(bytes, None, ctx)?
                 }
             } else if value.is_long() || value.is_double() {
-                date_from_free_form(&timestamp_string(value)?, ctx)?
+                date_from_free_form(&timestamp_string(value)?, None, ctx)?
             } else {
                 None
             }
@@ -777,7 +788,7 @@ fn cast_date(value: &Zval, ctx: &mut Ctx) -> Result<Option<Zval>, PhpException>
     }
 
     let parsed = if value.is_long() || value.is_double() {
-        date_from_free_form(&timestamp_string(value)?, ctx)?
+        date_from_free_form(&timestamp_string(value)?, None, ctx)?
     } else {
         None
     };
diff --git a/src/extension/flow-php-ext/src/values.rs b/src/extension/flow-php-ext/src/values.rs
index d67788421..91dbac450 100644
--- a/src/extension/flow-php-ext/src/values.rs
+++ b/src/extension/flow-php-ext/src/values.rs
@@ -30,10 +30,11 @@ extern "C" {
 
 const PHP_DATE_OBJ_STD_OFFSET: usize = std::mem::size_of::<*const c_void>();
 
-/// `new DateTimeImmutable($str)` through the same C-level timelib parser, in its
+/// `new DateTimeImmutable($str, $timezone)` through the same C-level timelib parser, in its
 /// non-throwing `date_create()` flavor: `Ok(None)` on parse failure, no exception.
 pub(crate) fn date_from_free_form(
     bytes: &[u8],
+    timezone: Option<&mut Zval>,
     ctx: &mut Ctx,
 ) -> Result<Option<Zval>, PhpException> {
     let ce = ctx.datetime_fns(false)?.ce;
@@ -65,7 +66,7 @@ pub(crate) fn date_from_free_form(
             time_str.as_mut_ptr().cast::<c_char>(),
             time_str.len() - 1,
             std::ptr::null(),
-            std::ptr::null_mut(),
+            timezone.map_or(std::ptr::null_mut(), std::ptr::from_mut),
             0,
         )
     };
diff --git a/src/extension/flow-php-ext/tests/phpt/055_datetime_iso_fast_path.phpt b/src/extension/flow-php-ext/tests/phpt/055_datetime_iso_fast_path.phpt
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f153b8b15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/extension/flow-php-ext/tests/phpt/055_datetime_iso_fast_path.phpt
@@ -0,0 +1,138 @@
+--TEST--
+datetime ISO strings: both hydrators build the object new DateTimeImmutable($value) builds, the Z zone included
+--SKIPIF--
+<?php if (!extension_loaded("flow_php")) die("skip flow_php extension not loaded"); ?>
+--FILE--
+<?php
+require __DIR__ . '/bootstrap.php';
+
+use function Flow\ETL\DSL\datetime_schema;
+use function Flow\ETL\DSL\schema;
+
+use Flow\ETL\Row\NativeRowHydrator;
+use Flow\ETL\Row\PhpRowHydrator;
+use Flow\ETL\Row\RawRowValues;
+
+$values = [
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05Z',
+    '2026-01-02 03:04:05Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04Z',
+    "2026-01-02T03:04:05Z\n",
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.1Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.12Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.123Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.1234Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.12345Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.1234567Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.12345678Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456789Z',
+    '2026-12-31T23:59:60Z',
+    '2026-01-02T24:00:00Z',
+    '0001-01-01T00:00:00Z',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456789+02:00',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05-0530',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05-05',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05+00:00',
+    '2026-01-02 03:04',
+    '2026-01-02T03:04:05',
+    "2026-01-02T03:04\n",
+    '2026-03-29T02:30:00',
+];
+
+$php = new PhpRowHydrator();
+$native = new NativeRowHydrator();
+$schema = schema(datetime_schema('at'));
+
+foreach (['UTC', 'Europe/Warsaw'] as $timezone) {
+    date_default_timezone_set($timezone);
+    echo "date.timezone {$timezone}\n";
+
+    foreach ($values as $value) {
+        $batch = [new RawRowValues(['at' => $value])];
+        $expected = new DateTimeImmutable($value);
+        $phpAt = $php->hydrate($batch, $schema)->first()->get('at');
+        $nativeAt = $native->hydrate($batch, $schema)->first()->get('at');
+
+        printf(
+            "%-38s %s %s type:%d php:%s native:%s\n",
+            json_encode($value),
+            $nativeAt->format('Y-m-d H:i:s.u'),
+            $nativeAt->getTimezone()->getName(),
+            json_decode(json_encode($nativeAt), true)['timezone_type'],
+            serialize($phpAt) === serialize($expected) ? 'yes' : 'NO',
+            serialize($nativeAt) === serialize($expected) ? 'yes' : 'NO',
+        );
+    }
+}
+
+foreach (['2026-01-02T25:99:99Z', '2026-01-02T03:60:00Z', '2026-01-02T03:04:05+25:00'] as $value) {
+    $batch = [new RawRowValues(['at' => $value])];
+
+    foreach (['php' => $php, 'native' => $native] as $label => $hydrator) {
+        try {
+            $hydrator->hydrate($batch, $schema);
+            echo "{$label} {$value}: FAIL no exception\n";
+        } catch (Throwable $e) {
+            echo "{$label} {$value}: ", $e::class, "\n";
+        }
+    }
+}
+?>
+--EXPECT--
+date.timezone UTC
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05Z"                 2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02 03:04:05Z"                 2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04Z"                    2026-01-02 03:04:00.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05Z\n"               2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.1Z"               2026-01-02 03:04:05.100000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.12Z"              2026-01-02 03:04:05.120000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.123Z"             2026-01-02 03:04:05.123000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.1234Z"            2026-01-02 03:04:05.123400 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.12345Z"           2026-01-02 03:04:05.123450 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456Z"          2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.1234567Z"         2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.12345678Z"        2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456789Z"       2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-12-31T23:59:60Z"                 2027-01-01 00:00:00.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T24:00:00Z"                 2026-01-03 00:00:00.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"                 0001-01-01 00:00:00.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456789+02:00"  2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 +02:00 type:1 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05-0530"             2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 -05:30 type:1 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05-05"               2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 -05:00 type:1 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05+00:00"            2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 +00:00 type:1 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02 03:04"                     2026-01-02 03:04:00.000000 UTC type:3 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05"                  2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 UTC type:3 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04\n"                   2026-01-02 03:04:00.000000 UTC type:3 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-03-29T02:30:00"                  2026-03-29 02:30:00.000000 UTC type:3 php:yes native:yes
+date.timezone Europe/Warsaw
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05Z"                 2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02 03:04:05Z"                 2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04Z"                    2026-01-02 03:04:00.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05Z\n"               2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.1Z"               2026-01-02 03:04:05.100000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.12Z"              2026-01-02 03:04:05.120000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.123Z"             2026-01-02 03:04:05.123000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.1234Z"            2026-01-02 03:04:05.123400 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.12345Z"           2026-01-02 03:04:05.123450 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456Z"          2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.1234567Z"         2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.12345678Z"        2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456789Z"       2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-12-31T23:59:60Z"                 2027-01-01 00:00:00.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T24:00:00Z"                 2026-01-03 00:00:00.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"0001-01-01T00:00:00Z"                 0001-01-01 00:00:00.000000 Z type:2 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456789+02:00"  2026-01-02 03:04:05.123456 +02:00 type:1 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05-0530"             2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 -05:30 type:1 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05-05"               2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 -05:00 type:1 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05+00:00"            2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 +00:00 type:1 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02 03:04"                     2026-01-02 03:04:00.000000 Europe/Warsaw type:3 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04:05"                  2026-01-02 03:04:05.000000 Europe/Warsaw type:3 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-01-02T03:04\n"                   2026-01-02 03:04:00.000000 Europe/Warsaw type:3 php:yes native:yes
+"2026-03-29T02:30:00"                  2026-03-29 03:30:00.000000 Europe/Warsaw type:3 php:yes native:yes
+php 2026-01-02T25:99:99Z: Flow\ETL\Exception\SchemaMismatchException
+native 2026-01-02T25:99:99Z: Flow\ETL\Exception\SchemaMismatchException
+php 2026-01-02T03:60:00Z: Flow\ETL\Exception\SchemaMismatchException
+native 2026-01-02T03:60:00Z: Flow\ETL\Exception\SchemaMismatchException
+php 2026-01-02T03:04:05+25:00: Flow\ETL\Exception\SchemaMismatchException
+native 2026-01-02T03:04:05+25:00: Flow\ETL\Exception\SchemaMismatchException
diff --git a/src/lib/types/src/Flow/Types/Type/Logical/DateTimeType.php b/src/lib/types/src/Flow/Types/Type/Logical/DateTimeType.php
index 1111aac94..39cd20a9c 100644
--- a/src/lib/types/src/Flow/Types/Type/Logical/DateTimeType.php
+++ b/src/lib/types/src/Flow/Types/Type/Logical/DateTimeType.php
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 use DateTime;
 use DateTimeImmutable;
 use DateTimeInterface;
+use DateTimeZone;
 use DOMElement;
 use Flow\Types\Exception\CastingException;
 use Flow\Types\Exception\InvalidTypeException;
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@
 use function is_numeric;
 use function is_string;
 use function preg_match;
+use function substr;
 
 /**
  * @template T of \DateTimeInterface
@@ -32,7 +34,7 @@
      * A date, its day spelled out, and a time: every string this matches with a real calendar day is one
      * StringTemporalParts would accept, and the constructor rejects the rest just as it would after that check.
      */
-    private const string ISO_DATE_TIME = '/^(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})[T ]\d{2}:\d{2}(?::\d{2}(?:\.\d{1,9})?)?(?:Z|[+-]\d{2}(?::?\d{2})?)?$/';
+    private const string ISO_DATE_TIME = '/^(\d{4})-(\d{2})-(\d{2})[T ]\d{2}:\d{2}(?::\d{2}(?:\.\d{1,9})?)?(Z|[+-]\d{2}(?::?\d{2})?)?$/';
 
     public function assert(mixed $value): DateTimeInterface
     {
@@ -65,6 +67,14 @@ public function cast(mixed $value): DateTimeInterface
                     preg_match(self::ISO_DATE_TIME, $value, $date) === 1
                     && checkdate((int) $date[2], (int) $date[3], (int) $date[1])
                 ) {
+                    if (($date[4] ?? '') === 'Z') {
+                        // timelib resolves the "Z" abbreviation by scanning its whole abbreviation table, ten
+                        // times the cost of parsing the rest; the zone handed in builds the identical object
+                        static $zulu = new DateTimeZone('Z');
+
+                        return new DateTimeImmutable(substr($date[0], 0, -1), $zulu);
+                    }
+
                     return new DateTimeImmutable($value);
                 }
 
diff --git a/src/lib/types/tests/Flow/Types/Tests/Unit/Type/Logical/DateTimeTypeTest.php b/src/lib/types/tests/Flow/Types/Tests/Unit/Type/Logical/DateTimeTypeTest.php
index 89f6e934d..6fa469b1b 100644
--- a/src/lib/types/tests/Flow/Types/Tests/Unit/Type/Logical/DateTimeTypeTest.php
+++ b/src/lib/types/tests/Flow/Types/Tests/Unit/Type/Logical/DateTimeTypeTest.php
@@ -193,9 +193,25 @@ public function test_a_compact_iso_date_casts(): void
     #[TestWith(['2024-03-05 12:34:56+02'])]
     #[TestWith(['2024-02-29 00:00:00'])]
     #[TestWith(['2024-03-05 24:00:00'])]
-    public function test_an_iso_date_time_casts_to_the_instant_it_names(string $value): void
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:05Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02 03:04:05Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(["2026-01-02T03:04:05Z\n"])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:05.1Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456789Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-12-31T23:59:60Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T24:00:00Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['0001-01-01T00:00:00Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:05.123456789+02:00'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:05+00:00'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:05-0530'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:05-05'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02 03:04'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:05'])]
+    public function test_an_iso_date_time_casts_to_the_object_the_constructor_builds(string $value): void
     {
-        static::assertEquals(new DateTimeImmutable($value), type_datetime()->cast($value));
+        static::assertSame(serialize(new DateTimeImmutable($value)), serialize(type_datetime()->cast($value)));
     }
 
     #[TestWith(['2023-02-29 10:00:00'])]
@@ -203,6 +219,9 @@ public function test_an_iso_date_time_casts_to_the_instant_it_names(string $valu
     #[TestWith(['2024-13-01 10:00:00'])]
     #[TestWith(['2024-03-05 25:00:00'])]
     #[TestWith(['2024-03-05 12:60:00'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T25:99:99Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:60:00Z'])]
+    #[TestWith(['2026-01-02T03:04:61Z'])]
     public function test_an_iso_date_time_off_the_calendar_or_clock_is_refused(string $value): void
     {
         $this->expectException(CastingException::class);