diff --git a/driver/driver.go b/driver/driver.go
index ef08aa7..b8bf3f8 100644
--- a/driver/driver.go
+++ b/driver/driver.go
@@ -12,6 +12,18 @@
 //
 //	sql.Open("sqlite3", "file:demo.db?_txlock=immediate")
 //
+// Possible values are: "deferred", "immediate", "exclusive".
+// A [read-only] transaction is always "deferred", regardless of "_txlock".
+//
+// The time encoding/decoding format can be specified using "_timefmt":
+//
+//	sql.Open("sqlite3", "file:demo.db?_timefmt=sqlite")
+//
+// Possible values are: "auto" (the default), "sqlite", "rfc3339";
+// "auto" encodes as RFC 3339 and decodes any [format] supported by SQLite;
+// "sqlite" encodes as SQLite and decodes any [format] supported by SQLite;
+// "rfc3339" encodes and decodes RFC 3339 only.
+//
 // [PRAGMA] statements can be specified using "_pragma":
 //
 //	sql.Open("sqlite3", "file:demo.db?_pragma=busy_timeout(10000)")
@@ -23,7 +35,9 @@
 //
 // [URI]: https://sqlite.org/uri.html
 // [PRAGMA]: https://sqlite.org/pragma.html
+// [format]: https://sqlite.org/lang_datefunc.html#time_values
 // [TRANSACTION]: https://sqlite.org/lang_transaction.html#deferred_immediate_and_exclusive_transactions
+// [read-only]: https://pkg.go.dev/database/sql#TxOptions
 package driver
 
 import (
@@ -43,7 +57,7 @@ import (
 
 // This variable can be replaced with -ldflags:
 //
-//	go build -ldflags="-X github.com/ncruces/go-sqlite3.driverName=sqlite"
+//	go build -ldflags="-X github.com/ncruces/go-sqlite3/driver.driverName=sqlite"
 var driverName = "sqlite3"
 
 func init() {
@@ -81,23 +95,52 @@ func (sqlite) OpenConnector(name string) (driver.Connector, error) {
 
 func newConnector(name string, init func(*sqlite3.Conn) error) (*connector, error) {
 	c := connector{name: name, init: init}
+
+	var txlock, timefmt string
 	if strings.HasPrefix(name, "file:") {
 		if _, after, ok := strings.Cut(name, "?"); ok {
 			query, err := url.ParseQuery(after)
 			if err != nil {
 				return nil, err
 			}
-			c.txlock = query.Get("_txlock")
-			c.pragmas = len(query["_pragma"]) > 0
+			txlock = query.Get("_txlock")
+			timefmt = query.Get("_timefmt")
+			c.pragmas = query.Has("_pragma")
 		}
 	}
+
+	switch txlock {
+	case "":
+		c.txBegin = "BEGIN"
+	case "deferred", "immediate", "exclusive":
+		c.txBegin = "BEGIN " + txlock
+	default:
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("sqlite3: invalid _txlock: %s", txlock)
+	}
+
+	switch timefmt {
+	case "":
+		c.tmRead = sqlite3.TimeFormatAuto
+		c.tmWrite = sqlite3.TimeFormatDefault
+	case "sqlite":
+		c.tmRead = sqlite3.TimeFormatAuto
+		c.tmWrite = sqlite3.TimeFormat3
+	case "rfc3339":
+		c.tmRead = sqlite3.TimeFormatDefault
+		c.tmWrite = sqlite3.TimeFormatDefault
+	default:
+		c.tmRead = sqlite3.TimeFormat(timefmt)
+		c.tmWrite = sqlite3.TimeFormat(timefmt)
+	}
 	return &c, nil
 }
 
 type connector struct {
 	init    func(*sqlite3.Conn) error
 	name    string
-	txlock  string
+	txBegin string
+	tmRead  sqlite3.TimeFormat
+	tmWrite sqlite3.TimeFormat
 	pragmas bool
 }
 
@@ -106,7 +149,12 @@ func (n *connector) Driver() driver.Driver {
 }
 
 func (n *connector) Connect(ctx context.Context) (_ driver.Conn, err error) {
-	var c conn
+	c := &conn{
+		txBegin: n.txBegin,
+		tmRead:  n.tmRead,
+		tmWrite: n.tmWrite,
+	}
+
 	c.Conn, err = sqlite3.Open(n.name)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
@@ -120,14 +168,6 @@ func (n *connector) Connect(ctx context.Context) (_ driver.Conn, err error) {
 	old := c.Conn.SetInterrupt(ctx)
 	defer c.Conn.SetInterrupt(old)
 
-	switch n.txlock {
-	case "":
-		c.txBegin = "BEGIN"
-	case "deferred", "immediate", "exclusive":
-		c.txBegin = "BEGIN " + n.txlock
-	default:
-		return nil, fmt.Errorf("sqlite3: invalid _txlock: %s", n.txlock)
-	}
 	if !n.pragmas {
 		err = c.Conn.Exec(`PRAGMA busy_timeout=60000`)
 		if err != nil {
@@ -155,7 +195,7 @@ func (n *connector) Connect(ctx context.Context) (_ driver.Conn, err error) {
 			return nil, err
 		}
 	}
-	return &c, nil
+	return c, nil
 }
 
 type conn struct {
@@ -163,6 +203,8 @@ type conn struct {
 	txBegin    string
 	txCommit   string
 	txRollback string
+	tmRead     sqlite3.TimeFormat
+	tmWrite    sqlite3.TimeFormat
 	readOnly   byte
 }
 
@@ -250,7 +292,7 @@ func (c *conn) PrepareContext(ctx context.Context, query string) (driver.Stmt, e
 		s.Close()
 		return nil, util.TailErr
 	}
-	return &stmt{s}, nil
+	return &stmt{Stmt: s, tmRead: c.tmRead, tmWrite: c.tmWrite}, nil
 }
 
 func (c *conn) ExecContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.NamedValue) (driver.Result, error) {
@@ -261,7 +303,7 @@ func (c *conn) ExecContext(ctx context.Context, query string, args []driver.Name
 
 	if savept, ok := ctx.(*saveptCtx); ok {
 		// Called from driver.Savepoint.
-		savept.Savepoint = c.Savepoint()
+		savept.Savepoint = c.Conn.Savepoint()
 		return resultRowsAffected(0), nil
 	}
 
@@ -282,6 +324,8 @@ func (*conn) CheckNamedValue(arg *driver.NamedValue) error {
 
 type stmt struct {
 	*sqlite3.Stmt
+	tmWrite sqlite3.TimeFormat
+	tmRead  sqlite3.TimeFormat
 }
 
 var (
@@ -333,7 +377,7 @@ func (s *stmt) QueryContext(ctx context.Context, args []driver.NamedValue) (driv
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
-	return &rows{ctx, s.Stmt}, nil
+	return &rows{s, ctx}, nil
 }
 
 func (s *stmt) setupBindings(args []driver.NamedValue) error {
@@ -372,7 +416,7 @@ func (s *stmt) setupBindings(args []driver.NamedValue) error {
 			case sqlite3.ZeroBlob:
 				err = s.Stmt.BindZeroBlob(id, int64(a))
 			case time.Time:
-				err = s.Stmt.BindTime(id, a, sqlite3.TimeFormatDefault)
+				err = s.Stmt.BindTime(id, a, s.tmWrite)
 			case interface{ Pointer() any }:
 				err = s.Stmt.BindPointer(id, a.Pointer())
 			case interface{ JSON() any }:
@@ -435,8 +479,8 @@ func (r resultRowsAffected) RowsAffected() (int64, error) {
 }
 
 type rows struct {
-	ctx  context.Context
-	Stmt *sqlite3.Stmt
+	*stmt
+	ctx context.Context
 }
 
 func (r *rows) Close() error {
@@ -475,6 +519,10 @@ func (r *rows) Next(dest []driver.Value) error {
 	}
 
 	for i := range dest {
+		if t, ok := r.decodeTime(i); ok {
+			dest[i] = t
+			continue
+		}
 		switch r.Stmt.ColumnType(i) {
 		case sqlite3.INTEGER:
 			dest[i] = r.Stmt.ColumnInt64(i)
@@ -493,3 +541,22 @@ func (r *rows) Next(dest []driver.Value) error {
 
 	return r.Stmt.Err()
 }
+
+func (s *stmt) decodeTime(i int) (_ time.Time, _ bool) {
+	if s.tmRead == "" {
+		return
+	}
+	switch s.Stmt.ColumnType(i) {
+	case sqlite3.INTEGER, sqlite3.FLOAT, sqlite3.TEXT:
+		// maybe
+	default:
+		return
+	}
+	switch strings.ToUpper(s.Stmt.ColumnDeclType(i)) {
+	case "DATE", "TIME", "DATETIME", "TIMESTAMP":
+		// maybe
+	default:
+		return
+	}
+	return s.Stmt.ColumnTime(i, s.tmRead), s.Stmt.Err() == nil
+}
diff --git a/driver/driver_test.go b/driver/driver_test.go
index cf32f74..2b09930 100644
--- a/driver/driver_test.go
+++ b/driver/driver_test.go
@@ -114,13 +114,7 @@ func Test_Open_txLock(t *testing.T) {
 func Test_Open_txLock_invalid(t *testing.T) {
 	t.Parallel()
 
-	db, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", "file::memory:?_txlock=xclusive")
-	if err != nil {
-		t.Fatal(err)
-	}
-	defer db.Close()
-
-	_, err = db.Conn(context.TODO())
+	_, err := sql.Open("sqlite3", "file::memory:?_txlock=xclusive")
 	if err == nil {
 		t.Fatal("want error")
 	}
diff --git a/time.go b/time.go
index e5cc3ed..47ac672 100644
--- a/time.go
+++ b/time.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ type TimeFormat string
 
 // TimeFormats recognized by SQLite to encode/decode time values.
 //
-// https://sqlite.org/lang_datefunc.html
+// https://sqlite.org/lang_datefunc.html#time_values
 const (
 	TimeFormatDefault TimeFormat = "" // time.RFC3339Nano