diff --git a/lib/jekyll.rb b/lib/jekyll.rb
index 684d5eb1..06242de9 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll.rb
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ require 'jekyll/convertible'
 require 'jekyll/layout'
 require 'jekyll/page'
 require 'jekyll/post'
+require 'jekyll/excerpt'
 require 'jekyll/draft'
 require 'jekyll/filters'
 require 'jekyll/static_file'
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/excerpt.rb b/lib/jekyll/excerpt.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4d704661
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/excerpt.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+module Jekyll
+  class Excerpt
+
+    # Internal: Extract excerpt from the content
+    #
+    # By default excerpt is your first paragraph of a post: everything before
+    # the first two new lines:
+    #
+    #     ---
+    #     title: Example
+    #     ---
+    #
+    #     First paragraph with [link][1].
+    #
+    #     Second paragraph.
+    #
+    #     [1]: http://example.com/
+    #
+    # This is fairly good option for Markdown and Textile files. But might cause
+    # problems for HTML posts (which is quite unusual for Jekyll). If default
+    # excerpt delimiter is not good for you, you might want to set your own via
+    # configuration option `excerpt_separator`. For example, following is a good
+    # alternative for HTML posts:
+    #
+    #     # file: _config.yml
+    #     excerpt_separator: "<!-- more -->"
+    #
+    # Notice that all markdown-style link references will be appended to the
+    # excerpt. So the example post above will have this excerpt source:
+    #
+    #     First paragraph with [link][1].
+    #
+    #     [1]: http://example.com/
+    #
+    # Excerpts are rendered same time as content is rendered.
+    #
+    # Returns excerpt String
+
+    include Convertible
+
+    attr_accessor :post
+    attr_accessor :content, :output, :ext
+
+    # Initialize this Post instance.
+    #
+    # site       - The Site.
+    # base       - The String path to the dir containing the post file.
+    # name       - The String filename of the post file.
+    #
+    # Returns the new Post.
+    def initialize(post)
+      @post = post
+      @content = extract_excerpt(post.content)
+    end
+
+    %w[site name data ext].each do |meth|
+      define_method(meth) do
+        post.send(meth)
+      end
+    end
+
+    def path
+      File.join(post.path, "#excerpt")
+    end
+
+    def include?(something)
+      (output && output.include?(something)) || content.include?(something)
+    end
+
+    # The UID for this post (useful in feeds).
+    # e.g. /2008/11/05/my-awesome-post
+    #
+    # Returns the String UID.
+    def id
+      File.join(post.dir, post.slug, "#excerpt")
+    end
+
+    # Convert this post into a Hash for use in Liquid templates.
+    #
+    # Returns the representative Hash.
+    def to_liquid
+      further_data = Hash[ATTRIBUTES_FOR_LIQUID.map { |attribute|
+        [attribute, post.send(attribute)]
+      }]
+      further_data
+    end
+
+    def to_s
+      output || content
+    end
+
+    # Returns the shorthand String identifier of this Post.
+    def inspect
+      "<Excerpt: #{self.id}>"
+    end
+
+    protected
+
+    # Internal: Extract excerpt from the content
+    #
+    # By default excerpt is your first paragraph of a post: everything before
+    # the first two new lines:
+    #
+    #     ---
+    #     title: Example
+    #     ---
+    #
+    #     First paragraph with [link][1].
+    #
+    #     Second paragraph.
+    #
+    #     [1]: http://example.com/
+    #
+    # This is fairly good option for Markdown and Textile files. But might cause
+    # problems for HTML posts (which is quite unusual for Jekyll). If default
+    # excerpt delimiter is not good for you, you might want to set your own via
+    # configuration option `excerpt_separator`. For example, following is a good
+    # alternative for HTML posts:
+    #
+    #     # file: _config.yml
+    #     excerpt_separator: "<!-- more -->"
+    #
+    # Notice that all markdown-style link references will be appended to the
+    # excerpt. So the example post above will have this excerpt source:
+    #
+    #     First paragraph with [link][1].
+    #
+    #     [1]: http://example.com/
+    #
+    # Excerpts are rendered same time as content is rendered.
+    #
+    # Returns excerpt String
+    def extract_excerpt(post_content)
+      separator     = site.config['excerpt_separator']
+      head, _, tail = post_content.partition(separator)
+
+      "" << head << "\n\n" << tail.scan(/^\[[^\]]+\]:.+$/).join("\n")
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/post.rb b/lib/jekyll/post.rb
index c478adb5..1b70e31e 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/post.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/post.rb
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ module Jekyll
       if self.data.has_key? 'excerpt'
         self.data['excerpt']
       else
-        self.extracted_excerpt
+        self.extracted_excerpt.to_s
       end
     end
 
@@ -158,14 +158,6 @@ module Jekyll
       raise FatalException.new("Post #{name} does not have a valid date.")
     end
 
-    # Transform the contents and excerpt based on the content type.
-    #
-    # Returns nothing.
-    def transform
-      super
-      self.extracted_excerpt = converter.convert(self.extracted_excerpt)
-    end
-
     # The generated directory into which the post will be placed
     # upon generation. This is derived from the permalink or, if
     # permalink is absent, set to the default date
@@ -260,6 +252,8 @@ module Jekyll
         "page" => self.to_liquid
       }.deep_merge(site_payload)
 
+      self.extracted_excerpt.do_layout(payload, layouts)
+
       do_layout(payload, layouts)
     end
 
@@ -311,45 +305,8 @@ module Jekyll
 
     protected
 
-    # Internal: Extract excerpt from the content
-    #
-    # By default excerpt is your first paragraph of a post: everything before
-    # the first two new lines:
-    #
-    #     ---
-    #     title: Example
-    #     ---
-    #
-    #     First paragraph with [link][1].
-    #
-    #     Second paragraph.
-    #
-    #     [1]: http://example.com/
-    #
-    # This is fairly good option for Markdown and Textile files. But might cause
-    # problems for HTML posts (which is quite unusual for Jekyll). If default
-    # excerpt delimiter is not good for you, you might want to set your own via
-    # configuration option `excerpt_separator`. For example, following is a good
-    # alternative for HTML posts:
-    #
-    #     # file: _config.yml
-    #     excerpt_separator: "<!-- more -->"
-    #
-    # Notice that all markdown-style link references will be appended to the
-    # excerpt. So the example post above will have this excerpt source:
-    #
-    #     First paragraph with [link][1].
-    #
-    #     [1]: http://example.com/
-    #
-    # Excerpts are rendered same time as content is rendered.
-    #
-    # Returns excerpt String
     def extract_excerpt
-      separator     = self.site.config['excerpt_separator']
-      head, _, tail = self.content.partition(separator)
-
-      "" << head << "\n\n" << tail.scan(/^\[[^\]]+\]:.+$/).join("\n")
+      Jekyll::Excerpt.new(self)
     end
   end
 end