diff --git a/src/calibre/db/lazy.py b/src/calibre/db/lazy.py
index f522bc1cc1..166627c438 100644
--- a/src/calibre/db/lazy.py
+++ b/src/calibre/db/lazy.py
@@ -280,8 +280,7 @@ class ProxyMetadata(Metadata):
 
     def __init__(self, db, book_id, formatter=None):
         sa(self, 'template_cache', db.formatter_template_cache)
-        if formatter is None:
-            sa(self, 'formatter', SafeFormat())
+        sa(self, 'formatter', SafeFormat() if formatter is None else formatter)
         sa(self, '_db', weakref.ref(db))
         sa(self, '_book_id', book_id)
         sa(self, '_cache', {'user_categories':{}, 'cover_data':(None,None), 'device_collections':[]})
diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py
index 93253b1dcc..9e94678844 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/book/base.py
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ class Metadata(object):
                 self.authors = list(authors) if authors else []
         from calibre.ebooks.metadata.book.formatter import SafeFormat
         if formatter is None:
-            self.formatter = SafeFormat()
+            self.formatter = SafeFormat() if formatter is  None else formatter
         self.template_cache = template_cache
 
     def is_null(self, field):