diff --git a/material/plugins/blog/plugin.py b/material/plugins/blog/plugin.py
index 369d725cd..542bc4b2f 100644
--- a/material/plugins/blog/plugin.py
+++ b/material/plugins/blog/plugin.py
@@ -411,16 +411,18 @@ class BlogPlugin(BasePlugin[BlogConfig]):
         path = self.config.authors_file.format(blog = self.config.blog_dir)
         path = os.path.normpath(path)
 
-        # If the authors file does not exist, return an empty dictionary
+        # Resolve path relative to docs directory
         docs = os.path.relpath(config.docs_dir)
         file = os.path.join(docs, path)
+
+        # If the authors file does not exist, return here
+        config: Authors = Authors()
         if not os.path.isfile(file):
-            authors: dict[str, Author] = {}
-            return authors
+            return config.authors
 
         # Open file and parse as YAML
         with open(file, encoding = "utf-8") as f:
-            config: Authors = Authors(os.path.abspath(file))
+            config.config_file_path = os.path.abspath(file)
             try:
                 config.load_dict(yaml.load(f, SafeLoader) or {})
 
diff --git a/material/plugins/blog/structure/__init__.py b/material/plugins/blog/structure/__init__.py
index 71f8724dd..ae202c3e2 100644
--- a/material/plugins/blog/structure/__init__.py
+++ b/material/plugins/blog/structure/__init__.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class Post(Page):
     def __init__(self, file: File, config: MkDocsConfig):
         super().__init__(None, file, config)
 
-        # Resolve path relative to docs directory for error reporting
+        # Resolve path relative to docs directory
         docs = os.path.relpath(config.docs_dir)
         path = os.path.relpath(file.abs_src_path, docs)
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/blog/plugin.py b/src/plugins/blog/plugin.py
index 369d725cd..542bc4b2f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/blog/plugin.py
+++ b/src/plugins/blog/plugin.py
@@ -411,16 +411,18 @@ class BlogPlugin(BasePlugin[BlogConfig]):
         path = self.config.authors_file.format(blog = self.config.blog_dir)
         path = os.path.normpath(path)
 
-        # If the authors file does not exist, return an empty dictionary
+        # Resolve path relative to docs directory
         docs = os.path.relpath(config.docs_dir)
         file = os.path.join(docs, path)
+
+        # If the authors file does not exist, return here
+        config: Authors = Authors()
         if not os.path.isfile(file):
-            authors: dict[str, Author] = {}
-            return authors
+            return config.authors
 
         # Open file and parse as YAML
         with open(file, encoding = "utf-8") as f:
-            config: Authors = Authors(os.path.abspath(file))
+            config.config_file_path = os.path.abspath(file)
             try:
                 config.load_dict(yaml.load(f, SafeLoader) or {})
 
diff --git a/src/plugins/blog/structure/__init__.py b/src/plugins/blog/structure/__init__.py
index 71f8724dd..ae202c3e2 100644
--- a/src/plugins/blog/structure/__init__.py
+++ b/src/plugins/blog/structure/__init__.py
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ class Post(Page):
     def __init__(self, file: File, config: MkDocsConfig):
         super().__init__(None, file, config)
 
-        # Resolve path relative to docs directory for error reporting
+        # Resolve path relative to docs directory
         docs = os.path.relpath(config.docs_dir)
         path = os.path.relpath(file.abs_src_path, docs)