Index: src/plugin/index-basic/src/java/org/apache/nutch/indexer/basic/BasicIndexingFilter.java
===================================================================
--- src/plugin/index-basic/src/java/org/apache/nutch/indexer/basic/BasicIndexingFilter.java	(revision 1137663)
+++ src/plugin/index-basic/src/java/org/apache/nutch/indexer/basic/BasicIndexingFilter.java	(working copy)
@@ -77,8 +77,11 @@
     if (title.length() > MAX_TITLE_LENGTH) {      // truncate title if needed
       title = title.substring(0, MAX_TITLE_LENGTH);
     }
-    doc.add("title", title);
 
+    if (title.length() > 0) {
+      doc.add("title", title);
+    }
+
     // add cached content/summary display policy, if available
     String caching = parse.getData().getMeta(Nutch.CACHING_FORBIDDEN_KEY);
     if (caching != null && !caching.equals(Nutch.CACHING_FORBIDDEN_NONE)) {