diff --git a/middleware/markdown/metadata.go b/middleware/markdown/metadata.go
index 11b7f32a..afab4daa 100644
--- a/middleware/markdown/metadata.go
+++ b/middleware/markdown/metadata.go
@@ -12,9 +12,9 @@ import (
 
 var (
 	parsers = []MetadataParser{
-		&JSONMetadataParser{},
-		&TOMLMetadataParser{},
-		&YAMLMetadataParser{},
+		&JSONMetadataParser{metadata: Metadata{Variables: make(map[string]interface{})}},
+		&TOMLMetadataParser{metadata: Metadata{Variables: make(map[string]interface{})}},
+		&YAMLMetadataParser{metadata: Metadata{Variables: make(map[string]interface{})}},
 	}
 )
 
diff --git a/middleware/markdown/process.go b/middleware/markdown/process.go
index ffcd456d..9dc5778f 100644
--- a/middleware/markdown/process.go
+++ b/middleware/markdown/process.go
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ const (
 // process processes the contents of a page.
 // It parses the metadata (if any) and uses the template (if found)
 func (md Markdown) process(c Config, requestPath string, b []byte) ([]byte, error) {
-	var metadata = Metadata{}
+	var metadata = Metadata{Variables: make(map[string]interface{})}
 	var markdown []byte
 	var err error