diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/debug.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/debug.py
index ca1da86ac2..f15c78736e 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/debug.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/debug.py
@@ -1421,7 +1421,7 @@ class MOBIFile(object): # {{{
                 except:
                     pass
             if fmt is not None:
-                self.image_records.append(ImageRecord(i, r, fmt))
+                self.image_records.append(ImageRecord(len(self.image_records)+1, r, fmt))
             else:
                 self.binary_records.append(BinaryRecord(i, r))
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/utils.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/utils.py
index e16871fec4..5e31cf0301 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/utils.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/utils.py
@@ -314,6 +314,8 @@ def detect_periodical(toc, log=None):
     Detect if the TOC object toc contains a periodical that conforms to the
     structure required by kindlegen to generate a periodical.
     '''
+    if toc.count() < 1 or not toc[0].klass == 'periodical':
+        return False
     for node in toc.iterdescendants():
         if node.depth() == 1 and node.klass != 'article':
             if log is not None:
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/writer2/main.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/writer2/main.py
index 00a333ce9d..c1fafc3f8b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/writer2/main.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/writer2/main.py
@@ -97,6 +97,9 @@ class MobiWriter(object):
     # Indexing {{{
     def generate_index(self):
         self.primary_index_record_idx = None
+        if self.oeb.toc.count() < 1:
+            self.log.warn('No TOC, MOBI index not generated')
+            return
         try:
             self.indexer = Indexer(self.serializer, self.last_text_record_idx,
                     len(self.records[self.last_text_record_idx]),
@@ -147,15 +150,19 @@ class MobiWriter(object):
         oeb.logger.info('Serializing images...')
         self.image_records = []
         self.image_map = {}
+        self.masthead_offset = 0
+        index = 1
 
-        mh_href = self.masthead_offset = None
+        mh_href = None
         if 'masthead' in oeb.guide:
             mh_href = oeb.guide['masthead'].href
+            self.image_records.append(None)
+            index += 1
         elif self.is_periodical:
             # Generate a default masthead
-            data = generate_masthead(unicode(self.oeb.metadata('title')[0]))
+            data = generate_masthead(unicode(self.oeb.metadata['title'][0]))
             self.image_records.append(data)
-            self.masthead_offset = 0
+            index += 1
 
         cover_href = self.cover_offset = self.thumbnail_offset = None
         if (oeb.metadata.cover and
@@ -172,13 +179,16 @@ class MobiWriter(object):
                 oeb.logger.warn('Bad image file %r' % item.href)
                 continue
             else:
-                self.image_map[item.href] = len(self.image_records)
-                self.image_records.append(data)
+                if mh_href and item.href == mh_href:
+                    self.image_records[0] = data
+                    continue
 
-                if item.href == mh_href:
-                    self.masthead_offset = len(self.image_records) - 1
-                elif item.href == cover_href:
-                    self.cover_offset = len(self.image_records) - 1
+                self.image_records.append(data)
+                self.image_map[item.href] = index
+                index += 1
+
+                if cover_href and item.href == cover_href:
+                    self.cover_offset = self.image_map[item.href] - 1
                     try:
                         data = rescale_image(item.data, dimen=MAX_THUMB_DIMEN,
                             maxsizeb=MAX_THUMB_SIZE)
@@ -186,10 +196,14 @@ class MobiWriter(object):
                         oeb.logger.warn('Failed to generate thumbnail')
                     else:
                         self.image_records.append(data)
-                        self.thumbnail_offset = len(self.image_records) - 1
+                        self.thumbnail_offset = index - 1
+                        index += 1
             finally:
                 item.unload_data_from_memory()
 
+        if self.image_records[0] is None:
+            raise ValueError('Failed to find masthead image in manifest')
+
     # }}}
 
     # Text {{{
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/writer2/serializer.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/writer2/serializer.py
index fe5dee3258..377b29655c 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/writer2/serializer.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/writer2/serializer.py
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ class Serializer(object):
         is written after every element of the spine in ``oeb``.
         '''
         self.oeb = oeb
+        # Map of image hrefs to image index in the MOBI file
         self.images = images
         self.logger = oeb.logger
         self.is_periodical = is_periodical