diff --git a/pelican/contents.py b/pelican/contents.py
index b5701732..17801cc1 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', 'misc'),
         }
 
diff --git a/pelican/generators.py b/pelican/generators.py
index 3056d6f7..f385ea45 100644
--- a/pelican/generators.py
+++ b/pelican/generators.py
@@ -223,12 +223,11 @@ class ArticlesGenerator(Generator):
         """Generate Author pages."""
         author_template = self.get_template('author')
         for aut, articles in self.authors:
-            if aut.name:   # ignore authors with blank names
-                dates = [article for article in self.dates if article in articles]
-                write(aut.save_as, author_template, self.context,
-                    author=aut, articles=articles, dates=dates,
-                    paginated={'articles': articles, 'dates': dates},
-                    page_name=u'author/%s' % aut)
+            dates = [article for article in self.dates if article in articles]
+            write(aut.save_as, author_template, self.context,
+                author=aut, articles=articles, dates=dates,
+                paginated={'articles': articles, 'dates': dates},
+                page_name=u'author/%s' % aut)
 
     def generate_drafts(self, write):
         """Generate drafts pages."""
@@ -313,7 +312,9 @@ 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/themes/notmyidea/templates/article_infos.html b/pelican/themes/notmyidea/templates/article_infos.html
index 78326fd1..a1993a09 100644
--- a/pelican/themes/notmyidea/templates/article_infos.html
+++ b/pelican/themes/notmyidea/templates/article_infos.html
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
                 {{ article.locale_date }}
         </abbr>
 
-        {% if article.author.name %}
+        {% if article.author %}
         <address class="vcard author">
                 By <a class="url fn" href="{{ SITEURL }}/{{ article.author.url }}">{{ article.author }}</a>
         </address>
diff --git a/pelican/themes/simple/templates/article.html b/pelican/themes/simple/templates/article.html
index 349b3107..16c34266 100644
--- a/pelican/themes/simple/templates/article.html
+++ b/pelican/themes/simple/templates/article.html
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
     <abbr class="published" title="{{ article.date.isoformat() }}">
       {{ article.locale_date }}
     </abbr>
-    {% if article.author.name %}
+    {% if article.author %}
     <address class="vcard author">
       By <a class="url fn" href="{{ SITEURL }}/{{ article.author.url }}">{{ article.author }}</a>
     </address>
diff --git a/pelican/themes/simple/templates/index.html b/pelican/themes/simple/templates/index.html
index ec278c4b..dfdb0b45 100644
--- a/pelican/themes/simple/templates/index.html
+++ b/pelican/themes/simple/templates/index.html
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@
                 <header> <h2 class="entry-title"><a href="{{ SITEURL }}/{{ article.url }}" rel="bookmark" title="Permalink to {{ article.title}}">{{ article.title }}</a></h2> </header>
                 <footer class="post-info">
                     <abbr class="published" title="{{ article.date.isoformat() }}"> {{ article.locale_date }} </abbr>
-                    {% if article.author.name %}<address class="vcard author">By <a class="url fn" href="{{ SITEURL }}/{{ article.author.url }}">{{ article.author }}</a></address>{% endif %}
+                    {% if article.author %}<address class="vcard author">By <a class="url fn" href="{{ SITEURL }}/{{ article.author.url }}">{{ article.author }}</a></address>{% endif %}
                 </footer><!-- /.post-info -->
                 <div class="entry-content"> {{ article.summary }} </div><!-- /.entry-content -->
         </article></li>
diff --git a/pelican/writers.py b/pelican/writers.py
index 65f0b338..b9ce77c4 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):