diff --git a/features/post_excerpts.feature b/features/post_excerpts.feature
index e9d048bd..c66c527b 100644
--- a/features/post_excerpts.feature
+++ b/features/post_excerpts.feature
@@ -47,4 +47,4 @@ Feature: Post excerpts
     And the _site/2007/12/31 directory should exist
     And the "_site/2007/12/31/entry1.html" file should exist
     And I should see "<p>content for entry1.</p>" in "_site/index.html"
-    And I should see "<html><head></head><body><p>content for entry1.</p>\n\n</body></html>" in "_site/2007/12/31/entry1.html"
+    And I should see "<html><head></head><body><p>content for entry1.</p>\n</body></html>" in "_site/2007/12/31/entry1.html"
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/excerpt.rb b/lib/jekyll/excerpt.rb
index 347be217..3d463944 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/excerpt.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/excerpt.rb
@@ -107,7 +107,11 @@ module Jekyll
     def extract_excerpt(post_content)
       head, _, tail = post_content.to_s.partition(post.excerpt_separator)
 
-      "" << head << "\n\n" << tail.scan(/^\[[^\]]+\]:.+$/).join("\n")
+      if tail.empty?
+        head
+      else
+        "" << head << "\n\n" << tail.scan(/^\[[^\]]+\]:.+$/).join("\n")
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/test_excerpt.rb b/test/test_excerpt.rb
index ecd42148..a5025cda 100644
--- a/test/test_excerpt.rb
+++ b/test/test_excerpt.rb
@@ -124,4 +124,23 @@ class TestExcerpt < JekyllUnitTest
       end
     end
   end
+
+  context "A whole-post excerpt" do
+    setup do
+      clear_dest
+      @site = Site.new(site_configuration)
+      @post = setup_post("2008-02-02-published.markdown")
+      @excerpt = @post.send :extract_excerpt
+    end
+
+    should "be generated" do
+      assert_equal true, @excerpt.is_a?(Jekyll::Excerpt)
+    end
+
+    context "#content" do
+      should "match the post content" do
+        assert_equal @post.content, @excerpt.content
+      end
+    end
+  end
 end
