diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py
index fcbf18ee6..8ef22779a 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/common.py
@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ from ..utils import (
     str_or_none,
     str_to_int,
     strip_or_none,
+    try_get,
     unescapeHTML,
     unified_strdate,
     unified_timestamp,
@@ -1282,7 +1283,7 @@ class InfoExtractor(object):
                 'thumbnail': url_or_none(e.get('thumbnailUrl') or e.get('thumbnailURL')),
                 'duration': parse_duration(e.get('duration')),
                 'timestamp': unified_timestamp(e.get('uploadDate')),
-                'uploader': str_or_none(e.get('author')),
+                'uploader': try_get(e, lambda x: x['author']['name'], compat_str),
                 'filesize': float_or_none(e.get('contentSize')),
                 'tbr': int_or_none(e.get('bitrate')),
                 'width': int_or_none(e.get('width')),