diff --git a/features/collections.feature b/features/collections.feature
index d97918bd..1fcc7cce 100644
--- a/features/collections.feature
+++ b/features/collections.feature
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ Feature: Collections
     And the "_site/methods/configuration.html" file should not exist
 
   Scenario: Rendered collection
-    Given I have an "index.html" page that contains "Collections: {{ site.collections }}"
+    Given I have an "index.html" page that contains "Collections: output => {{ site.collections[0].output }} label => {{ site.collections[0].label }}"
     And I have an "collection_metadata.html" page that contains "Methods metadata: {{ site.collections[0].foo }} {{ site.collections[0] }}"
     And I have fixture collections
     And I have a "_config.yml" file with content:
@@ -25,8 +25,8 @@ Feature: Collections
     """
     When I run jekyll build
     Then the _site directory should exist
-    And I should see "Collections: {\"output\"=>true" in "_site/index.html"
-    And I should see "\"label\"=>\"methods\"," in "_site/index.html"
+    And I should see "Collections: output => true" in "_site/index.html"
+    And I should see "label => methods" in "_site/index.html"
     And I should see "Methods metadata: bar" in "_site/collection_metadata.html"
     And I should see "<p>Whatever: foo.bar</p>" in "_site/methods/configuration.html"
 
@@ -45,7 +45,7 @@ Feature: Collections
     And I should see "<p>Whatever: foo.bar</p>" in "_site/methods/configuration/index.html"
 
   Scenario: Rendered document in a layout
-    Given I have an "index.html" page that contains "Collections: {{ site.collections }}"
+    Given I have an "index.html" page that contains "Collections: output => {{ site.collections[0].output }} label => {{ site.collections[0].label }} foo => {{ site.collections[0].foo }}"
     And I have a default layout that contains "<div class='title'>Tom Preston-Werner</div> {{content}}"
     And I have fixture collections
     And I have a "_config.yml" file with content:
@@ -57,8 +57,9 @@ Feature: Collections
     """
     When I run jekyll build
     Then the _site directory should exist
-    And I should see "Collections: {\"output\"=>true" in "_site/index.html"
-    And I should see "\"label\"=>\"methods\"," in "_site/index.html"
+    And I should see "Collections: output => true" in "_site/index.html"
+    And I should see "label => methods" in "_site/index.html"
+    And I should see "foo => bar" in "_site/index.html"
     And I should see "<p>Run your generators! default</p>" in "_site/methods/site/generate.html"
     And I should see "<div class='title'>Tom Preston-Werner</div>" in "_site/methods/site/generate.html"
 
diff --git a/features/hooks.feature b/features/hooks.feature
index 489f256b..b561c00c 100644
--- a/features/hooks.feature
+++ b/features/hooks.feature
@@ -89,11 +89,11 @@ Feature: Hooks
     And I have a "_plugins/ext.rb" file with content:
     """
     Jekyll::Hooks.register :pages, :pre_render do |page, payload|
-      payload['myparam'] = 'special' if page.name == 'page1.html'
+      payload.page['myparam'] = 'special' if page.name == 'page1.html'
     end
     """
-    And I have a "page1.html" page that contains "{{ myparam }}"
-    And I have a "page2.html" page that contains "{{ myparam }}"
+    And I have a "page1.html" page that contains "{{ page.myparam }}"
+    And I have a "page2.html" page that contains "{{ page.myparam }}"
     When I run jekyll build
     Then I should see "special" in "_site/page1.html"
     And I should not see "special" in "_site/page2.html"
diff --git a/features/post_data.feature b/features/post_data.feature
index 6ebfb27d..2792a829 100644
--- a/features/post_data.feature
+++ b/features/post_data.feature
@@ -233,14 +233,14 @@ Feature: Post data
       | dir        | dir/        |
       | dir/nested | dir/nested/ |
 
-  Scenario: Override page.path variable
+  Scenario: Cannot override page.path variable
     Given I have a _posts directory
     And I have the following post:
       | title    | date       | path               | content                      |
-      | override | 2013-04-12 | override-path.html | Custom path: {{ page.path }} |
+      | override | 2013-04-12 | override-path.html | Non-custom path: {{ page.path }} |
     When I run jekyll build
     Then the _site directory should exist
-    And I should see "Custom path: override-path.html" in "_site/2013/04/12/override.html"
+    And I should see "Non-custom path: _posts/2013-04-12-override.markdown" in "_site/2013/04/12/override.html"
 
   Scenario: Disable a post from being published
     Given I have a _posts directory
diff --git a/lib/jekyll.rb b/lib/jekyll.rb
index 3e8e639d..de6b6c69 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll.rb
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ require 'colorator'
 SafeYAML::OPTIONS[:suppress_warnings] = true
 
 module Jekyll
+  StandardError = Class.new(::StandardError)
 
   # internal requires
   autoload :Cleaner,             'jekyll/cleaner'
@@ -172,6 +173,7 @@ end
 require_all 'jekyll/commands'
 require_all 'jekyll/converters'
 require_all 'jekyll/converters/markdown'
+require_all 'jekyll/drops'
 require_all 'jekyll/generators'
 require_all 'jekyll/tags'
 
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/collection.rb b/lib/jekyll/collection.rb
index c4a1f456..f74ccf6f 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/collection.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/collection.rb
@@ -170,14 +170,7 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns a representation of this collection for use in Liquid.
     def to_liquid
-      metadata.merge({
-        "label"     => label,
-        "docs"      => docs,
-        "files"     => files,
-        "directory" => directory,
-        "output"    => write?,
-        "relative_directory" => relative_directory
-      })
+      Drops::CollectionDrop.new self
     end
 
     # Whether the collection's documents ought to be written as individual
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
index 016ff245..db34307a 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/convertible.rb
@@ -210,13 +210,8 @@ module Jekyll
 
       while layout
         Jekyll.logger.debug "Rendering Layout:", path
-        payload = Utils.deep_merge_hashes(
-          payload,
-          {
-            "content" => output,
-            "layout"  => layout.data
-          }
-        )
+        payload.content = output
+        payload.layout  = layout.data
 
         self.output = render_liquid(layout.content,
                                          payload,
@@ -250,11 +245,11 @@ module Jekyll
 
       Jekyll.logger.debug "Pre-Render Hooks:", self.relative_path
       Jekyll::Hooks.trigger hook_owner, :pre_render, self, payload
-      info = { :filters => [Jekyll::Filters], :registers => { :site => site, :page => payload['page'] } }
+      info = { :filters => [Jekyll::Filters], :registers => { :site => site, :page => payload.page } }
 
       # render and transform content (this becomes the final content of the object)
-      payload["highlighter_prefix"] = converters.first.highlighter_prefix
-      payload["highlighter_suffix"] = converters.first.highlighter_suffix
+      payload.highlighter_prefix = converters.first.highlighter_prefix
+      payload.highlighter_suffix = converters.first.highlighter_suffix
 
       if render_with_liquid?
         Jekyll.logger.debug "Rendering Liquid:", self.relative_path
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/document.rb b/lib/jekyll/document.rb
index 528fed68..a1bf6bad 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/document.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/document.rb
@@ -12,11 +12,13 @@ module Jekyll
 
     # Create a new Document.
     #
-    # site - the Jekyll::Site instance to which this Document belongs
     # path - the path to the file
+    # relations - a hash with keys :site and :collection, the values of which
+    #             are the Jekyll::Site and Jekyll::Collection to which this
+    #             Document belong.
     #
     # Returns nothing.
-    def initialize(path, relations)
+    def initialize(path, relations = {})
       @site = relations[:site]
       @path = path
       @extname = File.extname(path)
@@ -38,12 +40,10 @@ module Jekyll
     end
 
     def output=(output)
-      @to_liquid = nil
       @output = output
     end
 
     def content=(content)
-      @to_liquid = nil
       @content = content
     end
 
@@ -181,27 +181,7 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns the Hash of key-value pairs for replacement in the URL.
     def url_placeholders
-      {
-        collection:  collection.label,
-        path:        cleaned_relative_path,
-        output_ext:  output_ext,
-        name:        Utils.slugify(basename_without_ext),
-        title:       Utils.slugify(data['slug'], mode: "pretty", cased: true) || Utils
-                       .slugify(basename_without_ext, mode: "pretty", cased: true),
-        slug:        Utils.slugify(data['slug']) || Utils.slugify(basename_without_ext),
-        year:        date.strftime("%Y"),
-        month:       date.strftime("%m"),
-        day:         date.strftime("%d"),
-        hour:        date.strftime("%H"),
-        minute:      date.strftime("%M"),
-        second:      date.strftime("%S"),
-        i_day:       date.strftime("%-d"),
-        i_month:     date.strftime("%-m"),
-        categories:  (data['categories'] || []).map { |c| c.to_s.downcase }.uniq.join('/'),
-        short_month: date.strftime("%b"),
-        short_year:  date.strftime("%y"),
-        y_day:       date.strftime("%j"),
-      }
+      @url_placeholders ||= Drops::UrlDrop.new(self)
     end
 
     # The permalink for this Document.
@@ -278,8 +258,6 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns nothing.
     def read(opts = {})
-      @to_liquid = nil
-
       Jekyll.logger.debug "Reading:", relative_path
 
       if yaml_file?
@@ -353,21 +331,7 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns a Hash representing this Document's data.
     def to_liquid
-      @to_liquid ||= if data.is_a?(Hash)
-        Utils.deep_merge_hashes Utils.deep_merge_hashes({
-          "output"        => output,
-          "content"       => content,
-          "relative_path" => relative_path,
-          "path"          => relative_path,
-          "url"           => url,
-          "collection"    => collection.label,
-          "next"          => next_doc,
-          "previous"      => previous_doc,
-          "id"            => id,
-        }, data), { 'excerpt' => data['excerpt'].to_s }
-      else
-        data
-      end
+      @to_liquid ||= Drops::DocumentDrop.new(self)
     end
 
     # The inspect string for this document.
@@ -391,10 +355,12 @@ module Jekyll
     # Returns -1, 0, +1 or nil depending on whether this doc's path is less than,
     #   equal or greater than the other doc's path. See String#<=> for more details.
     def <=>(other)
-      return nil if !other.respond_to?(:data)
-      cmp = data['date'] <=> other.data['date']
-      cmp = path <=> other.path if cmp == 0
-      cmp
+      return ArgumentError.new("document cannot be compared against #{other}") unless other.respond_to?(:data)
+      if data['date'] && other.data['date'] && (cmp = data['date'] <=> other.data['date']) != 0
+        cmp
+      else
+        path <=> other.path
+      end
     end
 
     # Determine whether this document should be written.
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/collection_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/collection_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ccb3045a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/collection_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+require "jekyll/drops/immutable_drop"
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class CollectionDrop < ImmutableDrop
+      extend Forwardable
+
+      def_delegator :@obj, :write?, :output
+      def_delegators :@obj, :label, :docs, :files, :directory,
+                            :relative_directory
+
+      def to_s
+        docs.to_s
+      end
+
+      private
+      def_delegator :@obj, :metadata, :fallback_data
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/document_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/document_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..81c9bcd2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/document_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class DocumentDrop < ImmutableDrop
+      extend Forwardable
+
+      def_delegator :@obj, :next_doc, :next
+      def_delegator :@obj, :previous_doc, :previous
+      def_delegator :@obj, :relative_path, :path
+      def_delegators :@obj, :id, :output, :content, :to_s, :relative_path, :url
+
+      def collection
+        @obj.collection.label
+      end
+
+      def excerpt
+        fallback_data['excerpt'].to_s
+      end
+
+      private
+      def_delegator :@obj, :data, :fallback_data
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/immutable_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/immutable_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..630cbfe1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/immutable_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class ImmutableDrop < Liquid::Drop
+      IllegalDropModification = Class.new(Jekyll::StandardError)
+
+      def initialize(obj)
+        @obj = obj
+      end
+
+      def [](key)
+        if respond_to? key
+          public_send key
+        else
+          fallback_data[key]
+        end
+      end
+
+      def []=(key, val)
+        if respond_to? key
+          raise IllegalDropModification.new("Key #{key} cannot be set in the drop.")
+        else
+          fallback_data[key] = val
+        end
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/jekyll_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/jekyll_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c4009da0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/jekyll_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class JekyllDrop < Liquid::Drop
+      class << self
+        def global
+          @global ||= JekyllDrop.new
+        end
+      end
+
+      def version
+        Jekyll::VERSION
+      end
+
+      def environment
+        Jekyll.env
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/mutable_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/mutable_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..9dd4048d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/mutable_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class MutableDrop < Liquid::Drop
+
+      def initialize(obj)
+        @obj = obj
+        @mutations = {}
+      end
+
+      def [](key)
+        if @mutations.key? key
+          @mutations[key]
+        elsif respond_to? key
+          public_send key
+        else
+          fallback_data[key]
+        end
+      end
+
+      def []=(key, val)
+        @mutations[key] = val
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/site_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/site_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..61ac8098
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/site_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class SiteDrop < ImmutableDrop
+      extend Forwardable
+
+      def_delegator  :@obj, :site_data, :data
+      def_delegators :@obj, :time, :pages, :static_files, :documents,
+                            :tags, :categories
+
+      def [](key)
+        if @obj.collections.key?(key) && key != "posts"
+          @obj.collections[key].docs
+        else
+          super(key)
+        end
+      end
+
+      def posts
+        @site_posts ||= @obj.posts.docs.sort { |a, b| b <=> a }
+      end
+
+      def html_pages
+        @site_html_pages ||= @obj.pages.select { |page| page.html? || page.url.end_with?("/") }
+      end
+
+      def collections
+        @site_collections ||= @obj.collections.values.map(&:to_liquid)
+      end
+
+      private
+      def_delegator :@obj, :config, :fallback_data
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/unified_payload_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/unified_payload_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..6db48f66
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/unified_payload_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,29 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class UnifiedPayloadDrop < ImmutableDrop
+
+      attr_accessor :page, :layout, :content, :paginator
+      attr_accessor :highlighter_prefix, :highlighter_suffix
+
+      def initialize(site)
+        @site = site
+      end
+
+      def jekyll
+        JekyllDrop.global
+      end
+
+      def site
+        @site_drop ||= SiteDrop.new(@site)
+      end
+
+      private
+      def fallback_data
+        @fallback_data ||= {}
+      end
+
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/drops/url_drop.rb b/lib/jekyll/drops/url_drop.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..163591dd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/jekyll/drops/url_drop.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,49 @@
+# encoding: UTF-8
+
+module Jekyll
+  module Drops
+    class UrlDrop < ImmutableDrop
+      extend Forwardable
+
+      def_delegator :@obj, :cleaned_relative_path, :path
+      def_delegator :@obj, :output_ext, :output_ext
+
+      def collection
+        @obj.collection.label
+      end
+
+      def name
+        Utils.slugify(@obj.basename_without_ext)
+      end
+
+      def title
+        Utils.slugify(@obj.data['slug'], mode: "pretty", cased: true) ||
+          Utils.slugify(@obj.basename_without_ext, mode: "pretty", cased: true)
+      end
+
+      def slug
+        Utils.slugify(@obj.data['slug']) || Utils.slugify(@obj.basename_without_ext)
+      end
+
+      def categories
+        category_set = Set.new
+        Array(@obj.data['categories']).each do |category|
+          category_set << category.to_s.downcase
+        end
+        category_set.to_a.join('/')
+      end
+
+      def year;        @obj.date.strftime("%Y"); end
+      def month;       @obj.date.strftime("%m"); end
+      def day;         @obj.date.strftime("%d"); end
+      def hour;        @obj.date.strftime("%H"); end
+      def minute;      @obj.date.strftime("%M"); end
+      def second;      @obj.date.strftime("%S"); end
+      def i_day;       @obj.date.strftime("%-d"); end
+      def i_month;     @obj.date.strftime("%-m"); end
+      def short_month; @obj.date.strftime("%b"); end
+      def short_year;  @obj.date.strftime("%y"); end
+      def y_day;       @obj.date.strftime("%j"); end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/page.rb b/lib/jekyll/page.rb
index a62a9940..0644e1b6 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/page.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/page.rb
@@ -117,12 +117,10 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns nothing.
     def render(layouts, site_payload)
-      payload = Utils.deep_merge_hashes({
-        "page" => to_liquid,
-        'paginator' => pager.to_liquid
-      }, site_payload)
+      site_payload.page = to_liquid
+      site_payload.paginator = pager.to_liquid
 
-      do_layout(payload, layouts)
+      do_layout(site_payload, layouts)
     end
 
     # The path to the source file
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/renderer.rb b/lib/jekyll/renderer.rb
index 529ff84b..09763cca 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/renderer.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/renderer.rb
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 module Jekyll
   class Renderer
 
-    attr_reader :document, :site, :site_payload
+    attr_reader :document, :site, :payload
 
     def initialize(site, document, site_payload = nil)
-      @site         = site
-      @document     = document
-      @site_payload = site_payload
+      @site     = site
+      @document = document
+      @payload  = site_payload || site.site_payload
     end
 
     # Determine which converters to use based on this document's
@@ -33,12 +33,10 @@ module Jekyll
     def run
       Jekyll.logger.debug "Rendering:", document.relative_path
 
-      payload = Utils.deep_merge_hashes({
-        "page" => document.to_liquid
-      }, site_payload || site.site_payload)
+      payload.page = document.to_liquid
 
       if document.collection.label == 'posts' && document.is_a?(Document)
-        payload['site']['related_posts'] = document.related_posts
+        payload.site['related_posts'] = document.related_posts
       end
 
       Jekyll.logger.debug "Pre-Render Hooks:", document.relative_path
@@ -46,12 +44,12 @@ module Jekyll
 
       info = {
         filters:   [Jekyll::Filters],
-        registers: { :site => site, :page => payload['page'] }
+        registers: { :site => site, :page => payload.page }
       }
 
       # render and transform content (this becomes the final content of the object)
-      payload["highlighter_prefix"] = converters.first.highlighter_prefix
-      payload["highlighter_suffix"] = converters.first.highlighter_suffix
+      payload.highlighter_prefix = converters.first.highlighter_prefix
+      payload.highlighter_suffix = converters.first.highlighter_suffix
 
       output = document.content
 
@@ -135,14 +133,9 @@ module Jekyll
       used   = Set.new([layout])
 
       while layout
-        payload = Utils.deep_merge_hashes(
-          payload,
-          {
-            "content" => output,
-            "page"    => document.to_liquid,
-            "layout"  => layout.data
-          }
-        )
+        payload.content = output
+        payload.page = document.to_liquid
+        payload.layout = layout.data
 
         output = render_liquid(
           layout.content,
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/site.rb b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
index 5e9402f4..4dc3ac84 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/site.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/site.rb
@@ -259,25 +259,7 @@ module Jekyll
     #   "tags"       - The Hash of tag values and Posts.
     #                  See Site#post_attr_hash for type info.
     def site_payload
-      {
-        "jekyll" => {
-          "version" => Jekyll::VERSION,
-          "environment" => Jekyll.env
-        },
-        "site"   => Utils.deep_merge_hashes(config,
-          Utils.deep_merge_hashes(Hash[collections.map{|label, coll| [label, coll.docs]}], {
-            "time"         => time,
-            "posts"        => posts.docs.sort { |a, b| b <=> a },
-            "pages"        => pages,
-            "static_files" => static_files,
-            "html_pages"   => pages.select { |page| page.html? || page.url.end_with?("/") },
-            "categories"   => post_attr_hash('categories'),
-            "tags"         => post_attr_hash('tags'),
-            "collections"  => collections.values.map(&:to_liquid),
-            "documents"    => documents,
-            "data"         => site_data
-        }))
-      }
+      Drops::UnifiedPayloadDrop.new self
     end
 
     # Get the implementation class for the given Converter.
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/url.rb b/lib/jekyll/url.rb
index 6e8042b0..a001f44d 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/url.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/url.rb
@@ -59,6 +59,14 @@ module Jekyll
     #
     # Returns the unsanitized String URL
     def generate_url(template)
+      if @placeholders.is_a? Drops::UrlDrop
+        generate_url_from_drop(template)
+      else
+        generate_url_from_hash(template)
+      end
+    end
+
+    def generate_url_from_hash(template)
       @placeholders.inject(template) do |result, token|
         break result if result.index(':').nil?
         if token.last.nil?
@@ -70,6 +78,16 @@ module Jekyll
       end
     end
 
+    def generate_url_from_drop(template)
+      template.gsub(/:([a-z_]+)/) do |match|
+        if replacement = @placeholders.public_send(match.sub(':', ''))
+          self.class.escape_path replacement
+        else
+          ''.freeze
+        end
+      end.gsub(/\/\//, '/')
+    end
+
     # Returns a sanitized String URL, stripping "../../" and multiples of "/",
     # as well as the beginning "/" so we can enforce and ensure it.
 
diff --git a/lib/jekyll/utils.rb b/lib/jekyll/utils.rb
index 94da8bd5..a2c6139d 100644
--- a/lib/jekyll/utils.rb
+++ b/lib/jekyll/utils.rb
@@ -174,13 +174,14 @@ module Jekyll
         SLUGIFY_PRETTY_REGEXP
       end
 
-      slug = string.
-        # Strip according to the mode
-        gsub(re, '-').
-        # Remove leading/trailing hyphen
-        gsub(/^\-|\-$/i, '')
+      # Strip according to the mode
+      slug = string.gsub(re, '-')
 
-      cased ? slug : slug.downcase
+      # Remove leading/trailing hyphen
+      slug.gsub!(/^\-|\-$/i, '')
+
+      slug.downcase! unless cased
+      slug
     end
 
     # Add an appropriate suffix to template so that it matches the specified
diff --git a/test/test_excerpt.rb b/test/test_excerpt.rb
index 322ba3c6..61ffded3 100644
--- a/test/test_excerpt.rb
+++ b/test/test_excerpt.rb
@@ -10,8 +10,7 @@ class TestExcerpt < JekyllUnitTest
 
   def do_render(document)
     @site.layouts = { "default" => Layout.new(@site, source_dir('_layouts'), "simple.html")}
-    payload = {"site" => {"posts" => []}}
-    document.output = Jekyll::Renderer.new(@site, document, payload).run
+    document.output = Jekyll::Renderer.new(@site, document, @site.site_payload).run
   end
 
   context "With extraction disabled" do
diff --git a/test/test_page.rb b/test/test_page.rb
index 625812aa..16b9e060 100644
--- a/test/test_page.rb
+++ b/test/test_page.rb
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ class TestPage < JekyllUnitTest
 
   def do_render(page)
     layouts = { "default" => Layout.new(@site, source_dir('_layouts'), "simple.html")}
-    page.render(layouts, {"site" => {"posts" => []}})
+    page.render(layouts, @site.site_payload)
   end
 
   context "A Page" do
diff --git a/test/test_url.rb b/test/test_url.rb
index e4529be7..578e8962 100644
--- a/test/test_url.rb
+++ b/test/test_url.rb
@@ -54,5 +54,23 @@ class TestURL < JekyllUnitTest
       ).to_s
     end
 
+    should "handle UrlDrop as a placeholder in addition to a hash" do
+      site = fixture_site({
+        "collections" => {
+          "methods" => {
+            "output" => true
+          }
+        },
+      })
+      site.read
+      doc = site.collections["methods"].docs.find do |doc|
+        doc.relative_path == "_methods/escape-+ #%20[].md"
+      end
+      assert_equal '/methods/escape-+-20/escape-20.html', URL.new(
+        :template => '/methods/:title/:name:output_ext',
+        :placeholders => doc.url_placeholders
+      ).to_s
+    end
+
   end
 end