diff --git a/mkdocs_rss_plugin/config.py b/mkdocs_rss_plugin/config.py
index 195591e..8212df4 100644
--- a/mkdocs_rss_plugin/config.py
+++ b/mkdocs_rss_plugin/config.py
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
 # ##################################
 
 # standard
-from datetime import datetime
 from typing import Union
 
 # 3rd party
@@ -25,7 +24,7 @@ class _DateFromMeta(Config):
     as_creation = config_options.Type(Union[bool, str], default="git")
     as_update = config_options.Type(Union[bool, str], default="git")
     datetime_format = config_options.Type(str, default="%Y-%m-%d %H:%M")
-    default_time = config_options.Type(str, default=datetime.min.strftime("%H:%M"))
+    default_time = config_options.Type(str, default="00:00")
     default_timezone = config_options.Type(str, default="UTC")
 
 
diff --git a/mkdocs_rss_plugin/plugin.py b/mkdocs_rss_plugin/plugin.py
index 1d783a7..61d3540 100644
--- a/mkdocs_rss_plugin/plugin.py
+++ b/mkdocs_rss_plugin/plugin.py
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@
 from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader, select_autoescape
 from mkdocs.config import config_options
 from mkdocs.config.defaults import MkDocsConfig
-from mkdocs.exceptions import PluginError
 from mkdocs.plugins import BasePlugin, event_priority, get_plugin_logger
 from mkdocs.structure.files import Files
 from mkdocs.structure.pages import Page
@@ -169,12 +168,13 @@ def on_config(self, config: MkDocsConfig) -> MkDocsConfig:
             self.config.date_from_meta.default_time = datetime.strptime(
                 self.config.date_from_meta.default_time, "%H:%M"
             )
-        except ValueError as err:
-            raise PluginError(
+        except (TypeError, ValueError) as err:
+            logger.warning(
                 "Config error: `date_from_meta.default_time` value "
                 f"'{self.config.date_from_meta.default_time}' format doesn't match the "
-                f"expected format %H:%M. Trace: {err}"
+                f"expected format %H:%M. Fallback to the default value. Trace: {err}"
             )
+            self.config.date_from_meta.default_time = "00:00"
 
         if self.config.use_git:
             logger.debug(