diff --git a/library/Zepto/FileLoader/MarkdownLoader.php b/library/Zepto/FileLoader/MarkdownLoader.php
index d57e332..08dfce4 100644
--- a/library/Zepto/FileLoader/MarkdownLoader.php
+++ b/library/Zepto/FileLoader/MarkdownLoader.php
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ private function parse_meta($file)
                 $meta[$field] = trim(preg_replace("/\s*(?:\*\/|\?>).*/", '', $match[1]));
             }
             else {
-                $meta[$field] = '';
+                unset($meta[$field]);
             }
         }
 
diff --git a/library/Zepto/Zepto.php b/library/Zepto/Zepto.php
index 4a86aba..e8cdfb0 100644
--- a/library/Zepto/Zepto.php
+++ b/library/Zepto/Zepto.php
@@ -166,9 +166,9 @@ protected function setup_router()
                 );
 
                 // Retrieve template name, if none given, use base template
-                $template_name = $content['meta']['template'] === ''
-                    ? 'base.twig'
-                    : $content['meta']['template'];
+                $template_name = array_key_exists('template', $content['meta']) === true
+                    ? $content['meta']['template']
+                    : 'base.twig';
 
                 // Merge Twig options and content into one array
                 $options = array_merge($twig_options, $content);