Yes, that makes sense.
I checked and all those ill behaving ones had the date 01-01-XXXX. Most of the times I do know the publishing year, but do not know the publishing month, so I enter Jan 1st as the date. When I make that Jan 2nd, every time the correct year is now used.
I agree, this behavior is apparently not new but must have lingered a long time and I did not noticed it
Thanks!