diff --git a/request.go b/request.go
index 2d30a97..d34de1e 100644
--- a/request.go
+++ b/request.go
@@ -86,21 +86,29 @@ func unmarshalJsonApiNode(data *JsonApiNode, model reflect.Value) error {
 
 				if len(args) >= 2 {
 					val := attributes[args[1]]
+
+					// next if the attribute was not included in the request
+					if val == nil {
+						return false
+					}
+
 					v := reflect.ValueOf(val)
 
 					if fieldValue.Type() == reflect.TypeOf(time.Time{}) {
-						var t time.Time
+
+						var at int64
 
 						if v.Kind() == reflect.Float64 {
-							at := int64(v.Interface().(float64))
-							t = time.Unix(at, 0)
+							at = int64(v.Interface().(float64))
 						} else if v.Kind() == reflect.Int {
-							t = time.Unix(v.Int(), 0)
+							at = v.Int()
 						} else {
 							er = errors.New("Only numbers can be parsed as dates, unix timestamps")
 							return false
 						}
 
+						t := time.Unix(at, 0)
+
 						fieldValue.Set(reflect.ValueOf(t))
 
 						return false
diff --git a/request_test.go b/request_test.go
index 0179150..0ddeaa6 100644
--- a/request_test.go
+++ b/request_test.go
@@ -181,7 +181,6 @@ func samplePayloadWithId() io.Reader {
 			Type: "blogs",
 			Attributes: map[string]interface{}{
 				"title":      "New blog",
-				"created_at": 1436216820,
 				"view_count": 1000,
 			},
 		},