diff --git a/plotly/shapeannotation.py b/plotly/shapeannotation.py
index a2323ed02d..a3498973fa 100644
--- a/plotly/shapeannotation.py
+++ b/plotly/shapeannotation.py
@@ -1,10 +1,32 @@
 # some functions defined here to avoid numpy import
 
+from datetime import datetime
+from numbers import Number
+
 
 def _mean(x):
     if len(x) == 0:
         raise ValueError("x must have positive length")
-    return float(sum(x)) / len(x)
+
+    # Numeric sequence: default behaviour
+    if all(isinstance(v, Number) for v in x):
+        return float(sum(x)) / len(x)
+
+    # Datetime sequence: delegate to _mean_datetime
+    if all(isinstance(v, datetime) for v in x):
+        return _mean_datetime(x)
+
+    # Fallback for non-numeric and non-datetime types: return first element
+    return x[0]
+
+
+def _mean_datetime(x):
+    """Return midpoint of a sequence of datetime objects (assumes homogenous)."""
+
+    timestamps = [v.timestamp() for v in x]  # convert to POSIX timestamps
+    avg = sum(timestamps) / len(timestamps)
+    tzinfo = x[0].tzinfo  # extract timezone info from first element
+    return datetime.fromtimestamp(avg, tz=tzinfo)
 
 
 def _argmin(x):
diff --git a/tests/test_optional/test_autoshapes/test_date_axis_annotated_shapes.py b/tests/test_optional/test_autoshapes/test_date_axis_annotated_shapes.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..5f4f7df6ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_optional/test_autoshapes/test_date_axis_annotated_shapes.py
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+"""Tests for annotated axis-spanning shapes with datetime coordinates.
+
+These tests cover the regression described in GitHub issue #3065:
+https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/issues/3065
+
+"""
+
+from datetime import datetime
+
+import plotly.express as px
+import plotly.graph_objects as go
+
+
+def test_add_vline_with_date_annotation_express():
+    """MWE from Github issue https://github.com/plotly/plotly.py/issues/3065"""
+    df = px.data.stocks(indexed=True)
+    fig = px.line(df)
+    fig.add_vline(x="2018-09-24", annotation_text="test")
+
+
+def test_add_vline_with_date_annotation():
+    fig = go.Figure()
+    # Provide a couple of traces so axis type is inferred as date from data
+    dates = [datetime(2025, 9, 23), datetime(2025, 9, 24), datetime(2025, 9, 25)]
+    fig.add_scatter(x=dates, y=[1, 2, 3])
+    fig.add_vline(x=dates[1], annotation_text="Test")
+
+    # Ensure one annotation was added and x coordinate preserved
+    annotations = getattr(fig.layout, "annotations", [])
+    assert len(annotations) == 1
+    ann = annotations[0]
+    assert ann.x == dates[1]
+    assert ann.text == "Test"
+
+
+def test_add_hline_with_date_annotation():
+    fig = go.Figure()
+    # Provide a couple of traces so axis type is inferred as date from data
+    dates = [datetime(2025, 9, 23), datetime(2025, 9, 24), datetime(2025, 9, 25)]
+    fig.add_scatter(y=dates, x=[1, 2, 3])
+    fig.add_hline(y=dates[1], annotation_text="Test")
+
+    # Ensure one annotation was added and x coordinate preserved
+    annotations = getattr(fig.layout, "annotations", [])
+    assert len(annotations) == 1
+    ann = annotations[0]
+    assert ann.y == dates[1]
+    assert ann.text == "Test"