diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
index 8caca1f261..88d971ce4d 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
@@ -28,10 +28,14 @@ def authors_to_string(authors):
     else:
         return ''
 
+_bracket_pat = re.compile(r'[\[({].*?[})\]]')
 def author_to_author_sort(author):
+    if not author:
+        return ''
     method = tweaks['author_sort_copy_method']
     if method == 'copy' or (method == 'comma' and ',' in author):
         return author
+    author = _bracket_pat.sub('', author).strip()
     tokens = author.split()
     tokens = tokens[-1:] + tokens[:-1]
     if len(tokens) > 1:
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/database2.py b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
index c7830187df..fe4aac12b5 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/database2.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
@@ -136,6 +136,23 @@ class LibraryDatabase2(LibraryDatabase, SchemaUpgrade, CustomColumns):
         self.initialize_dynamic()
 
     def initialize_dynamic(self):
+        self.conn.executescript('''
+        DROP TRIGGER IF EXISTS author_insert_trg;
+        CREATE TEMP TRIGGER author_insert_trg
+            AFTER INSERT ON authors
+            BEGIN
+            UPDATE authors SET sort=author_to_author_sort(NEW.name) WHERE id=NEW.id;
+        END;
+        DROP TRIGGER IF EXISTS author_update_trg;
+        CREATE TEMP TRIGGER author_update_trg
+            BEFORE UPDATE ON authors
+            BEGIN
+            UPDATE authors SET sort=author_to_author_sort(NEW.name)
+            WHERE id=NEW.id AND name <> NEW.name;
+        END;
+        ''')
+        self.conn.execute(
+            'UPDATE authors SET sort=author_to_author_sort(name) WHERE sort IS NULL')
         self.conn.executescript(u'''
             CREATE TEMP VIEW IF NOT EXISTS tag_browser_news AS SELECT DISTINCT
                 id,
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/schema_upgrades.py b/src/calibre/library/schema_upgrades.py
index a8ffd9cde4..1ba650f6fd 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/schema_upgrades.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/schema_upgrades.py
@@ -385,28 +385,5 @@ class SchemaUpgrade(object):
             if table.startswith('custom_column_') and link_table in tables:
                 create_cust_tag_browser_view(table, link_table)
 
-        from calibre.ebooks.metadata import author_to_author_sort
+        self.conn.execute('UPDATE authors SET sort=author_to_author_sort(name)')
 
-        aut = self.conn.get('SELECT id, name FROM authors');
-        records = []
-        for (id, author) in aut:
-            records.append((id, author.replace('|', ',')))
-        for id,author in records:
-            self.conn.execute('UPDATE authors SET sort=? WHERE id=?',
-                (author_to_author_sort(author.replace('|', ',')).strip(), id))
-        self.conn.commit()
-        self.conn.executescript('''
-        DROP TRIGGER IF EXISTS author_insert_trg;
-        CREATE TRIGGER author_insert_trg
-            AFTER INSERT ON authors
-            BEGIN
-            UPDATE authors SET sort=author_to_author_sort(NEW.name) WHERE id=NEW.id;
-        END;
-        DROP TRIGGER IF EXISTS author_update_trg;
-        CREATE TRIGGER author_update_trg
-            BEFORE UPDATE ON authors
-            BEGIN
-            UPDATE authors SET sort=author_to_author_sort(NEW.name)
-            WHERE id=NEW.id AND name <> NEW.name;
-        END;
-        ''')
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/sqlite.py b/src/calibre/library/sqlite.py
index 7e0458fba4..85954f6e0f 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/sqlite.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/sqlite.py
@@ -94,6 +94,9 @@ class Connection(sqlite.Connection):
             return ans[0]
         return ans.fetchall()
 
+def _author_to_author_sort(x):
+    if not x: return ''
+    return author_to_author_sort(x.replace('|', ','))
 
 class DBThread(Thread):
 
@@ -121,7 +124,7 @@ class DBThread(Thread):
         else:
             self.conn.create_function('title_sort', 1, title_sort)
         self.conn.create_function('author_to_author_sort', 1,
-                lambda x: author_to_author_sort(x.replace('|', ',')))
+                _author_to_author_sort)
         self.conn.create_function('uuid4', 0, lambda : str(uuid.uuid4()))
         # Dummy functions for dynamically created filters
         self.conn.create_function('books_list_filter', 1, lambda x: 1)