diff --git a/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/data/creators.js b/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/data/creators.js
index 0113632d5..11ca92983 100644
--- a/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/data/creators.js
+++ b/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/data/creators.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ Zotero.Creators = new function() {
 	this.erase = erase;
 	this.purge = purge;
 	
-	this.fields = ['firstName', 'lastName', 'fieldMode', 'birthYear'];
+	this.__defineGetter__('fields', function () ['firstName', 'lastName', 'shortName', 'fieldMode', 'birthYear']);
 	
 	var _creatorDataHash = {}; // creatorDataIDs indexed by md5 hash of data
 	
@@ -82,15 +82,12 @@ Zotero.Creators = new function() {
 			return _creatorDataHash[hash];
 		}
 		
-		Zotero.DB.beginTransaction();
+		var params = [];
+		for each(var field in fields) {
+			params.push(field);
+		}
 		
-		var params = [
-			fields.firstName,
-			fields.lastName,
-			'',
-			fields.fieldMode,
-			fields.birthYear
-		];
+		Zotero.DB.beginTransaction();
 		
 		var sql = "SELECT creatorDataID FROM creatorData WHERE "
 			+ "firstName=? AND lastName=? AND shortName=? "
@@ -303,31 +300,24 @@ Zotero.Creators = new function() {
 	
 	
 	function _cleanFields(fields) {
-		var cleanedFields = {
-			firstName: '',
-			lastName: '',
-			fieldMode: 0,
-			birthYear: ''
-		};
-		for (var field in fields) {
-			if (fields[field]) {
-				switch (field) {
-					// Strings
-					case 'firstName':
-					case 'lastName':
-					case 'shortName':
-						cleanedFields[field] = fields[field] + '';
-						break;
-					
-					// Integer
-					case 'fieldMode':
-						cleanedFields[field] = fields[field] ? fields[field] : 0;
-						break;
-					
-					// Null if empty
-					default:
-						cleanedFields[field] = fields[field] ? fields[field] : null;
-				}
+		var cleanedFields = {};
+		for each(var field in Zotero.Creators.fields) {
+			switch (field) {
+				// Strings
+				case 'firstName':
+				case 'lastName':
+				case 'shortName':
+					cleanedFields[field] = fields[field] ? fields[field] + '' : '';
+					break;
+				
+				// Integer
+				case 'fieldMode':
+					cleanedFields[field] = fields[field] ? fields[field] : 0;
+					break;
+				
+				// Null if empty
+				case 'birthYear':
+					cleanedFields[field] = fields[field] ? fields[field] : null;
 			}
 		}
 		return cleanedFields;
diff --git a/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/schema.js b/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/schema.js
index 3954235ab..c1f547995 100644
--- a/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/schema.js
+++ b/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/schema.js
@@ -2367,6 +2367,11 @@ Zotero.Schema = new function(){
 				if (i==53) {
 					Zotero.DB.query("DELETE FROM collectionItems WHERE itemID IN (SELECT itemID FROM items WHERE itemID IN (SELECT itemID FROM itemAttachments WHERE sourceItemID IS NOT NULL) OR itemID IN (SELECT itemID FROM itemNotes WHERE sourceItemID IS NOT NULL))");
 				}
+				
+				if (i==54) {
+					Zotero.DB.query("UPDATE creatorData SET shortName='' WHERE shortName IS NULL");
+					Zotero.DB.query("UPDATE creatorData SET birthYear=NULL WHERE birthYear=''");
+				}
 			}
 			
 			_updateDBVersion('userdata', toVersion);
diff --git a/userdata.sql b/userdata.sql
index 4072aff97..4ca52e1a0 100644
--- a/userdata.sql
+++ b/userdata.sql
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
--- 53
+-- 54
 
 -- This file creates tables containing user-specific data for new users --
 -- any changes made here must be mirrored in transition steps in schema.js::_migrateSchema()