diff --git a/CHANGES.txt b/CHANGES.txt
index 21af8c1..6819e4d 100644
--- a/CHANGES.txt
+++ b/CHANGES.txt
@@ -13,6 +13,9 @@ Features
 Bug Fixes
 ~~~~~~~~~
 
+- Ensure that ``colander.iso8601.FixedOffset`` instances can be unpickled
+  cleanly under Py3k.
+
 - Avoid validating strings as sequences under Py3k.
 
 - Sync documentation with 0.9.9 change to use ``insert_before`` rather than
diff --git a/colander/iso8601.py b/colander/iso8601.py
index 6c74aae..805943c 100644
--- a/colander/iso8601.py
+++ b/colander/iso8601.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ class FixedOffset(tzinfo):
     """Fixed offset in hours and minutes from UTC
 
     """
-    def __init__(self, offset_hours, offset_minutes, name):
+    def __init__(self, offset_hours=0, offset_minutes=0, name='unknown'):
         self.__offset = timedelta(hours=offset_hours, minutes=offset_minutes)
         self.__name = name
 
diff --git a/colander/tests/test_iso8601.py b/colander/tests/test_iso8601.py
index 95501ee..2224fa3 100644
--- a/colander/tests/test_iso8601.py
+++ b/colander/tests/test_iso8601.py
@@ -28,6 +28,16 @@ class Test_FixedOffset(unittest.TestCase):
         from ..iso8601 import FixedOffset
         return FixedOffset(1, 30, 'oneandahalf')
 
+    def test_ctor_defaults(self):
+        # Ensure that instances can be unpickled on Py3k
+        from ..iso8601 import FixedOffset
+        NOW = datetime.datetime.now()
+        ZULU = datetime.timedelta(0, 0)
+        inst = FixedOffset()
+        self.assertEqual(inst.tzname(NOW), 'unknown')
+        self.assertEqual(inst.utcoffset(NOW), ZULU)
+        self.assertEqual(inst.dst(NOW), ZULU)
+        
     def test_utcoffset(self):
         inst = self._makeOne()
         result = inst.utcoffset(None)