diff --git a/docs/getting_started.rst b/docs/getting_started.rst
index 93c626c0..09840e8a 100644
--- a/docs/getting_started.rst
+++ b/docs/getting_started.rst
@@ -176,7 +176,9 @@ Note that, aside from the title, none of this metadata is mandatory: if the date
 is not specified, Pelican will rely on the file's "mtime" timestamp, and the
 category can be determined by the directory in which the file resides. For
 example, a file located at ``python/foobar/myfoobar.rst`` will have a category of
-``foobar``.
+``foobar``. If you would like to organize your files in other ways where the
+name of the subfolder would not be a good category name, you can set the
+setting ``USE_FOLDER_AS_CATEGORY`` to ``False``.
 
 Generate your blog
 ------------------
diff --git a/docs/settings.rst b/docs/settings.rst
index af6bc8c0..1e3704d2 100644
--- a/docs/settings.rst
+++ b/docs/settings.rst
@@ -34,6 +34,10 @@ Setting name (default value)                                            What doe
 `DATE_FORMATS` (``{}``)                                                 If you do manage multiple languages, you can
                                                                         set the date formatting here. See "Date format and locales"
                                                                         section below for details.
+`USE_FOLDER_AS_CATEGORY` (``True``)                                     When you don't specify a category in your post metadata and set this
+                                                                        setting to ``True`` and organize your articles in subfolders, the
+                                                                        subfolder will become the category of your post. If set to ``False``
+                                                                        ``DEFAULT_CATEGORY`` will be used as a fallback.
 `DEFAULT_CATEGORY` (``'misc'``)                                         The default category to fall back on.
 `DEFAULT_DATE_FORMAT` (``'%a %d %B %Y'``)                               The default date format you want to use.
 `DISPLAY_PAGES_ON_MENU` (``True``)                                      Whether to display pages on the menu of the
diff --git a/pelican/contents.py b/pelican/contents.py
index 0dee19f3..74a66934 100644
--- a/pelican/contents.py
+++ b/pelican/contents.py
@@ -121,7 +121,8 @@ class Page(object):
             'lang': getattr(self, 'lang', 'en'),
             'date': getattr(self, 'date', datetime.now()),
             'author': self.author,
-            'category': getattr(self, 'category', 'misc'),
+            'category': getattr(self, 'category',
+                self.settings['DEFAULT_CATEGORY']),
         }
 
     def _expand_settings(self, key):
diff --git a/pelican/generators.py b/pelican/generators.py
index fdec93fa..c38409a1 100644
--- a/pelican/generators.py
+++ b/pelican/generators.py
@@ -280,11 +280,14 @@ class ArticlesGenerator(Generator):
             # if no category is set, use the name of the path as a category
             if 'category' not in metadata:
 
-                if os.path.dirname(f) == article_path:  # if the article is not in a subdirectory
-                    category = self.settings['DEFAULT_CATEGORY']
-                else:
+                if (self.settings['USE_FOLDER_AS_CATEGORY']
+                    and os.path.dirname(f) != article_path):
+                    # if the article is in a subdirectory
                     category = os.path.basename(os.path.dirname(f))\
-                                .decode('utf-8')
+                        .decode('utf-8')
+                else:
+                    # if the article is not in a subdirectory
+                    category = self.settings['DEFAULT_CATEGORY']
 
                 if category != '':
                     metadata['category'] = Category(category, self.settings)
diff --git a/pelican/settings.py b/pelican/settings.py
index 4d1ed81e..610d0733 100644
--- a/pelican/settings.py
+++ b/pelican/settings.py
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ _DEFAULT_CONFIG = {'PATH': '.',
                    'PDF_GENERATOR': False,
                    'OUTPUT_SOURCES': False,
                    'OUTPUT_SOURCES_EXTENSION': '.text',
+                   'USE_FOLDER_AS_CATEGORY': True,
                    'DEFAULT_CATEGORY': 'misc',
                    'DEFAULT_DATE': 'fs',
                    'WITH_FUTURE_DATES': True,