diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 931327564..75383c554 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -12,6 +12,9 @@ Incompatible changes
   :ref:`ext-metadata`.
 * Sphinx expects source parser modules to have supported file formats as
   ``Parser.supported`` attribute
+* The default value of :confval:`epub_author` and :confval:`epub_publisher` are
+  changed from ``'unknown'`` to the value of :confval:`author`.  This is same as
+  a ``conf.py`` file sphinx-build generates.
 
 Deprecated
 ----------
@@ -26,6 +29,7 @@ Features added
 * Add ``sphinx.config.Any`` to represent the config value accepts any type of
   value
 * :confval:`source_suffix` allows a mapping fileext to file types
+* Add :confval:`author` as a configuration value
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------
diff --git a/doc/config.rst b/doc/config.rst
index e85a4027d..a0ec91cf0 100644
--- a/doc/config.rst
+++ b/doc/config.rst
@@ -475,6 +475,10 @@ Project information
 
    The documented project's name.
 
+.. confval:: author
+
+   The author name(s) of the document.  The default value is ``'unknown'``.
+
 .. confval:: copyright
 
    A copyright statement in the style ``'2008, Author Name'``.
@@ -1434,8 +1438,8 @@ the `Dublin Core metadata <http://dublincore.org/>`_.
 
 .. confval:: epub_author
 
-   The author of the document.  This is put in the Dublin Core metadata.  The
-   default value is ``'unknown'``.
+   The author of the document.  This is put in the Dublin Core metadata.  It
+   defaults to the :confval:`author` option.
 
 .. confval:: epub_contributor
 
@@ -1456,8 +1460,8 @@ the `Dublin Core metadata <http://dublincore.org/>`_.
 .. confval:: epub_publisher
 
    The publisher of the document.  This is put in the Dublin Core metadata.  You
-   may use any sensible string, e.g. the project homepage.  The default value is
-   ``'unknown'``.
+   may use any sensible string, e.g. the project homepage.  The defaults to the
+   :confval:`author` option.
 
 .. confval:: epub_copyright
 
diff --git a/sphinx/builders/epub3.py b/sphinx/builders/epub3.py
index c98c4b853..2a1b743e0 100644
--- a/sphinx/builders/epub3.py
+++ b/sphinx/builders/epub3.py
@@ -231,9 +231,9 @@ def setup(app):
     app.add_config_value('epub_theme', 'epub', 'html')
     app.add_config_value('epub_theme_options', {}, 'html')
     app.add_config_value('epub_title', lambda self: self.html_title, 'html')
-    app.add_config_value('epub_author', 'unknown', 'html')
+    app.add_config_value('epub_author', lambda self: self.author, 'html')
     app.add_config_value('epub_language', lambda self: self.language or 'en', 'html')
-    app.add_config_value('epub_publisher', 'unknown', 'html')
+    app.add_config_value('epub_publisher', lambda self: self.author, 'html')
     app.add_config_value('epub_copyright', lambda self: self.copyright, 'html')
     app.add_config_value('epub_identifier', 'unknown', 'html')
     app.add_config_value('epub_scheme', 'unknown', 'html')
diff --git a/sphinx/config.py b/sphinx/config.py
index 34cbf0883..ad08b4ca4 100644
--- a/sphinx/config.py
+++ b/sphinx/config.py
@@ -103,6 +103,7 @@ class Config(object):
     config_values = dict(
         # general options
         project = ('Python', 'env'),
+        author = ('unknown', 'env'),
         copyright = ('', 'html'),
         version = ('', 'env'),
         release = ('', 'env'),