diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/opf2.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/opf2.py
index 6ae40d157d..52b8238a8f 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/opf2.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/metadata/opf2.py
@@ -518,7 +518,6 @@ class OPF(object):  # {{{
     spine_path      = XPath('descendant::*[re:match(name(), "spine", "i")]/*[re:match(name(), "itemref", "i")]')
     guide_path      = XPath('descendant::*[re:match(name(), "guide", "i")]/*[re:match(name(), "reference", "i")]')
 
-    title           = MetadataField('title', formatter=lambda x: re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', x))
     publisher       = MetadataField('publisher')
     comments        = MetadataField('description')
     category        = MetadataField('type')
@@ -781,6 +780,29 @@ class OPF(object):  # {{{
         for item in self.iterguide():
             item.set('href', get_href(item))
 
+    @dynamic_property
+    def title(self):
+        # TODO: Add support for EPUB 3 refinements
+
+        def fget(self):
+            for elem in self.title_path(self.metadata):
+                title = self.get_text(elem)
+                if title and title.strip():
+                    return re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', title.strip())
+
+        def fset(self, val):
+            val = (val or '').strip()
+            titles = self.title_path(self.metadata)
+            if not val or self.package_version < 3:
+                for title in titles:
+                    title.getparent().remove(title)
+            if val:
+                titles = self.title_path(self.metadata)
+                title = titles[0] if titles else self.create_metadata_element('title')
+                title.text = re.sub(r'\s+', ' ', unicode(val))
+
+        return property(fget=fget, fset=fset)
+
     @dynamic_property
     def authors(self):
 
@@ -1132,10 +1154,7 @@ class OPF(object):  # {{{
     def get_metadata_element(self, name):
         matches = self.metadata_elem_path(self.metadata, name=name)
         if matches:
-            num = -1
-            if self.package_version >= 3 and name == 'title':
-                num = 0
-            return matches[num]
+            return matches[-1]
 
     def create_metadata_element(self, name, attrib=None, is_dc=True):
         if is_dc: