diff --git a/beets/autotag/match.py b/beets/autotag/match.py
index c79eba2d7e..7454d71897 100644
--- a/beets/autotag/match.py
+++ b/beets/autotag/match.py
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 
 
 import datetime
+import os
 import re
 from collections import namedtuple
 from typing import (
@@ -185,7 +186,8 @@ def track_distance(
         dist.add_ratio("track_length", diff, track_length_max)
 
     # Title.
-    dist.add_string("track_title", item.title, track_info.title)
+    cur_title = item.title or os.fsdecode(os.path.basename(item.path))
+    dist.add_string("track_title", cur_title, track_info.title)
 
     # Artist. Only check if there is actually an artist in the track data.
     if (
diff --git a/docs/changelog.rst b/docs/changelog.rst
index 0b5e195774..1287557723 100644
--- a/docs/changelog.rst
+++ b/docs/changelog.rst
@@ -158,6 +158,7 @@ New features:
 * :doc:`/plugins/convert`: Don't treat WAVE (`.wav`) files as lossy anymore
   when using the `never_convert_lossy_files` option. They will get transcoded
   like the other lossless formats.
+* The autotagger matches the file name if the track has no ``title`` metadata.
 
 Bug fixes:
 
diff --git a/test/test_autotag.py b/test/test_autotag.py
index 44c68ce9a1..474f129ebe 100644
--- a/test/test_autotag.py
+++ b/test/test_autotag.py
@@ -356,6 +356,14 @@ def test_various_artists_tolerated(self):
         dist = match.track_distance(item, info, incl_artist=True)
         self.assertEqual(dist, 0.0)
 
+    def test_missing_metadata(self):
+        item = _make_item("", 0)
+        info = _make_trackinfo()[0]
+        dist1 = match.track_distance(item, info)
+        item.path = b"/tmp/01 One.mp3"
+        dist2 = match.track_distance(item, info)
+        self.assertLess(dist2, dist1)
+
 
 class AlbumDistanceTest(_common.TestCase):
     def _mapping(self, items, info):