diff --git a/src/calibre/gui2/actions/save_to_disk.py b/src/calibre/gui2/actions/save_to_disk.py
index 9e9cbe5f54..73f4367abc 100644
--- a/src/calibre/gui2/actions/save_to_disk.py
+++ b/src/calibre/gui2/actions/save_to_disk.py
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class SaveToDiskAction(InterfaceAction):
         cm('single format', _('Save only %s format to disk')%
                 prefs['output_format'].upper(),
                 triggered=partial(self.save_single_format_to_disk, False))
-        cm('fingle dir and format',
+        cm('single dir and format',
                 _('Save only %s format to disk in a single directory')%
                 prefs['output_format'].upper(),
                 triggered=partial(self.save_single_fmt_to_single_dir, False))
@@ -115,10 +115,7 @@ class SaveToDiskAction(InterfaceAction):
                     opts.save_cover = False
                     opts.write_opf = False
                     opts.template = opts.send_template
-            if single_dir:
-                opts.template = opts.template.split('/')[-1].strip()
-                if not opts.template:
-                    opts.template = '{title} - {authors}'
+            opts.single_dir = single_dir
             self._saver = Saver(self.gui, self.gui.library_view.model().db,
                     Dispatcher(self._books_saved), rows, path, opts,
                     spare_server=self.gui.spare_server)
diff --git a/src/calibre/library/save_to_disk.py b/src/calibre/library/save_to_disk.py
index 3a95086faa..2c723e0f7d 100644
--- a/src/calibre/library/save_to_disk.py
+++ b/src/calibre/library/save_to_disk.py
@@ -121,6 +121,9 @@ def config(defaults=None):
             help=_('Convert paths to lowercase.'))
     x('replace_whitespace', default=False,
             help=_('Replace whitespace with underscores.'))
+    x('single_dir', default=False,
+            help=_('Save into a single directory, ignoring the template'
+                ' directory structure'))
     return c
 
 def preprocess_template(template):
@@ -131,7 +134,7 @@ def preprocess_template(template):
         template = template.decode(preferred_encoding, 'replace')
     return template
 
-class SafeFormat(TemplateFormatter):
+class Formatter(TemplateFormatter):
     '''
     Provides a format function that substitutes '' for any missing value
     '''
@@ -165,7 +168,7 @@ class SafeFormat(TemplateFormatter):
 
 def get_components(template, mi, id, timefmt='%b %Y', length=250,
         sanitize_func=ascii_filename, replace_whitespace=False,
-        to_lowercase=False):
+        to_lowercase=False, safe_format=True):
 
     tsorder = tweaks['save_template_title_series_sorting']
     format_args = FORMAT_ARGS.copy()
@@ -225,8 +228,11 @@ def get_components(template, mi, id, timefmt='%b %Y', length=250,
                     format_args[key] = unicode(format_args[key])
                 else:
                     format_args[key] = ''
-    components = SafeFormat().safe_format(template, format_args,
+    if safe_format:
+        components = Formatter().safe_format(template, format_args,
                                             'G_C-EXCEPTION!', mi)
+    else:
+        components = Formatter().unsafe_format(template, format_args, mi)
     components = [x.strip() for x in components.split('/')]
     components = [sanitize_func(x) for x in components if x]
     if not components:
@@ -283,10 +289,20 @@ def do_save_book_to_disk(id_, mi, cover, plugboards,
     if not formats:
         return True, id_, mi.title
 
-    components = get_components(opts.template, mi, id_, opts.timefmt, length,
+    try:
+        components = get_components(opts.template, mi, id_, opts.timefmt, length,
             ascii_filename if opts.asciiize else sanitize_file_name_unicode,
             to_lowercase=opts.to_lowercase,
-            replace_whitespace=opts.replace_whitespace)
+            replace_whitespace=opts.replace_whitespace, safe_format=False)
+    except Exception, e:
+        raise ValueError(_('Failed to calculate path for '
+            'save to disk. Template: %s\n'
+            'Error: %s'%(opts.template, e)))
+    if opts.single_dir:
+        components = components[-1:]
+    if not components:
+        raise ValueError(_('Template evaluation resulted in no'
+            ' path components. Template: %s')%opts.template)
     base_path = os.path.join(root, *components)
     base_name = os.path.basename(base_path)
     dirpath = os.path.dirname(base_path)
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/formatter.py b/src/calibre/utils/formatter.py
index 3a93c2b650..bc25f25043 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/formatter.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/formatter.py
@@ -310,7 +310,16 @@ class TemplateFormatter(string.Formatter):
             ans = string.Formatter.vformat(self, fmt, args, kwargs)
         return self.compress_spaces.sub(' ', ans).strip()
 
-    ########## a formatter guaranteed not to throw and exception ############
+    ########## a formatter that throws exceptions ############
+
+    def unsafe_format(self, fmt, kwargs, book):
+        self.kwargs = kwargs
+        self.book = book
+        self.composite_values = {}
+        self.locals = {}
+        return self.vformat(fmt, [], kwargs).strip()
+
+    ########## a formatter guaranteed not to throw an exception ############
 
     def safe_format(self, fmt, kwargs, error_value, book):
         self.kwargs = kwargs