diff --git a/git-svn.perl b/git-svn.perl
index 711e7b7eb9274c9de292d6f36fca9a9f0baf6318..b70f8efaaa404d63c6a45486f8513348cbb368f5 100755
--- a/git-svn.perl
+++ b/git-svn.perl
@@ -2428,13 +2428,15 @@ sub make_log_entry {
 			$name_field = $1;
 		}
 		if (!defined $name_field) {
-			#
+			if (!defined $email) {
+				$email = $name;
+			}
 		} elsif ($name_field =~ /(.*?)\s+<(.*)>/) {
 			($name, $email) = ($1, $2);
 		} elsif ($name_field =~ /(.*)@/) {
 			($name, $email) = ($1, $name_field);
 		} else {
-			($name, $email) = ($name_field, 'unknown');
+			($name, $email) = ($name_field, $name_field);
 		}
 	}
 	if (defined $headrev && $self->use_svm_props) {