diff --git a/pelican/readers.py b/pelican/readers.py
index afc0c4bf..8a1cad86 100644
--- a/pelican/readers.py
+++ b/pelican/readers.py
@@ -527,6 +527,10 @@ class Readers(FileStampDataCacher):
             self.cache_data(path, (content, reader_metadata))
         metadata.update(_filter_discardable_metadata(reader_metadata))
 
+        # remove any metadata that might have been defined with empty values
+        metadata = dict([i for i in metadata.items()
+            if i[1] or isinstance(i, (int, bool, float))])
+
         if content:
             # find images with empty alt
             find_empty_alt(content, path)