diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py
index a826ae2500..be597b2327 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ class Metadata(object):
                 if dest == 'tags':
                     self.set(dest, [f.strip() for f in val.split(',') if f.strip()])
                 elif dest == 'authors':
-                    self.set(dest, [val])
+                    self.set(dest, [f.strip() for f in val.split('|') if f.strip()])
                 else:
                     self.set(dest, val)
             except: