diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
index c633e5149b..8caca1f261 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/__init__.py
@@ -223,6 +223,7 @@ class MetaInformation(object):
                      'isbn', 'tags', 'cover_data', 'application_id', 'guide',
                      'manifest', 'spine', 'toc', 'cover', 'language',
                      'book_producer', 'timestamp', 'lccn', 'lcc', 'ddc',
+                     'author_sort_map',
                      'pubdate', 'rights', 'publication_type', 'uuid'):
             if hasattr(mi, attr):
                 setattr(ans, attr, getattr(mi, attr))
@@ -244,6 +245,7 @@ class MetaInformation(object):
         self.tags = getattr(mi, 'tags', [])
         #: mi.cover_data = (ext, data)
         self.cover_data   = getattr(mi, 'cover_data', (None, None))
+        self.author_sort_map = getattr(mi, 'author_sort_map', {})
 
         for x in ('author_sort', 'title_sort', 'comments', 'category', 'publisher',
                   'series', 'series_index', 'rating', 'isbn', 'language',
@@ -258,7 +260,7 @@ class MetaInformation(object):
                   'series', 'series_index', 'tags', 'rating', 'isbn', 'language',
                   'application_id', 'manifest', 'toc', 'spine', 'guide', 'cover',
                   'book_producer', 'timestamp', 'lccn', 'lcc', 'ddc', 'pubdate',
-                  'rights', 'publication_type', 'uuid'
+                  'rights', 'publication_type', 'uuid', 'author_sort_map'
                   ):
             prints(x, getattr(self, x, 'None'))
 
@@ -288,6 +290,9 @@ class MetaInformation(object):
             self.tags += mi.tags
         self.tags = list(set(self.tags))
 
+        if mi.author_sort_map:
+            self.author_sort_map.update(mi.author_sort_map)
+
         if getattr(mi, 'cover_data', False):
             other_cover = mi.cover_data[-1]
             self_cover = self.cover_data[-1] if self.cover_data else ''
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/__init__.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/__init__.py
index 8483c2bddb..c3b95f1188 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/__init__.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/__init__.py
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ PUBLICATION_METADATA_FIELDS = frozenset([
     'title_sort',
     # Ordered list of authors. Must never be None, can be [_('Unknown')]
     'authors',
+    # Map of sort strings for each author
+    'author_sort_map',
     # Pseudo field that can be set, but if not set is auto generated
     # from authors and languages
     'author_sort',
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py
index ad5dd17ace..ba34f04f95 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ NULL_VALUES = {
                 'classifiers'  : {},
                 'languages'    : [],
                 'device_collections': [],
+                'author_sort_map': {},
                 'authors'      : [_('Unknown')],
                 'title'        : _('Unknown'),
 }
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/database2.py b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
index 321a5fce17..c7830187df 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/database2.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/database2.py
@@ -433,7 +433,11 @@ class LibraryDatabase2(LibraryDatabase, SchemaUpgrade, CustomColumns):
         if aum: aum = [a.strip().replace('|', ',') for a in aum.split(',')]
         mi = MetaInformation(self.title(idx, index_is_id=index_is_id), aum)
         mi.author_sort = self.author_sort(idx, index_is_id=index_is_id)
-        mi.authors_sort_strings = self.authors_sort_strings(idx, index_is_id)
+        if mi.authors:
+            mi.author_sort_map = {}
+            for name, sort in zip(mi.authors, self.authors_sort_strings(idx,
+                index_is_id)):
+                mi.author_sort_map[name] = sort
         mi.comments    = self.comments(idx, index_is_id=index_is_id)
         mi.publisher   = self.publisher(idx, index_is_id=index_is_id)
         mi.timestamp   = self.timestamp(idx, index_is_id=index_is_id)