diff --git a/pelican/contents.py b/pelican/contents.py
index 74a66934..4acef788 100644
--- a/pelican/contents.py
+++ b/pelican/contents.py
@@ -53,11 +53,6 @@ class Page(object):
         if not hasattr(self, 'author'):
             if 'AUTHOR' in settings:
                 self.author = Author(settings['AUTHOR'], settings)
-            else:
-                title = filename.decode('utf-8') if filename else self.title
-                self.author = Author(getenv('USER', 'John Doe'), settings)
-                logger.warning(u"Author of `{0}' unknown, assuming that his name is "
-                         "`{1}'".format(title, self.author))
 
         # manage languages
         self.in_default_lang = True
@@ -120,7 +115,7 @@ class Page(object):
             'slug': getattr(self, 'slug', ''),
             'lang': getattr(self, 'lang', 'en'),
             'date': getattr(self, 'date', datetime.now()),
-            'author': self.author,
+            'author': getattr(self, 'author', ''),
             'category': getattr(self, 'category',
                 self.settings['DEFAULT_CATEGORY']),
         }
diff --git a/pelican/generators.py b/pelican/generators.py
index 77989df9..0d2209be 100644
--- a/pelican/generators.py
+++ b/pelican/generators.py
@@ -358,7 +358,9 @@ class ArticlesGenerator(Generator):
         for article in self.articles:
             # only main articles are listed in categories, not translations
             self.categories[article.category].append(article)
-            self.authors[article.author].append(article)
+            # ignore blank authors as well as undefined
+            if hasattr(article,'author') and article.author.name != '':
+                self.authors[article.author].append(article)
 
         # sort the articles by date
         self.articles.sort(key=attrgetter('date'), reverse=True)
diff --git a/pelican/writers.py b/pelican/writers.py
index 53b6c48a..b932a805 100644
--- a/pelican/writers.py
+++ b/pelican/writers.py
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ class Writer(object):
                                         item.date.date(), item.url),
             description=item.content,
             categories=item.tags if hasattr(item, 'tags') else None,
-            author_name=getattr(item, 'author', 'John Doe'),
+            author_name=getattr(item, 'author', ''),
             pubdate=set_date_tzinfo(item.date,
                 self.settings.get('TIMEZONE', None)))
 
diff --git a/tests/test_contents.py b/tests/test_contents.py
index 6b0f93ea..8683d674 100644
--- a/tests/test_contents.py
+++ b/tests/test_contents.py
@@ -40,8 +40,11 @@ class TestPage(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_mandatory_properties(self):
         """If the title is not set, must throw an exception."""
-        self.assertRaises(AttributeError, Page, 'content')
-        page = Page(**self.page_kwargs)
+        page = Page('content')
+        with self.assertRaises(NameError) as cm:
+            page.check_properties()
+
+        page = Page('content', metadata={'title': 'foobar'})
         page.check_properties()
 
     def test_summary_from_metadata(self):