diff --git a/src/calibre/library/database2.py b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
index 8c74620a3d..7d0cd9035b 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/database2.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
@@ -464,8 +464,8 @@ class LibraryDatabase2(LibraryDatabase):
         authors = self.authors(id, index_is_id=True)
         if not authors:
             authors = _('Unknown')
-        author = sanitize_file_name(authors.split(',')[0][:self.PATH_LIMIT]).decode(filesystem_encoding)
-        title  = sanitize_file_name(self.title(id, index_is_id=True)[:self.PATH_LIMIT]).decode(filesystem_encoding)
+        author = sanitize_file_name(authors.split(',')[0][:self.PATH_LIMIT]).decode(filesystem_encoding, 'ignore')
+        title  = sanitize_file_name(self.title(id, index_is_id=True)[:self.PATH_LIMIT]).decode(filesystem_encoding, 'ignore')
         path   = author + '/' + title + ' (%d)'%id
         return path