diff --git a/django/utils/feedgenerator.py b/django/utils/feedgenerator.py
index 22db5abe7f..cd5ff7abc9 100644
--- a/django/utils/feedgenerator.py
+++ b/django/utils/feedgenerator.py
@@ -158,9 +158,11 @@ class Rss201rev2Feed(RssFeed):
                 handler.addQuickElement(u"description", item['description'])
 
             # Author information.
-            if item['author_email'] is not None and item['author_name'] is not None:
-                handler.addQuickElement(u"author", u"%s (%s)" % \
+            if item["author_name"] and item["author_email"]:
+                handler.addQuickElement(u"author", "%s (%s)" % \
                     (item['author_email'], item['author_name']))
+            elif item["author_email"]:
+                handler.addQuickElement(u"author", item["author_email"])
 
             if item['pubdate'] is not None:
                 handler.addQuickElement(u"pubDate", rfc2822_date(item['pubdate']).decode('ascii'))