diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs
index e77dda8d7..8014d480c 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/Markdown.hs
@@ -215,10 +215,10 @@ pandocTitleBlock = try $ do
                  author' <- author
                  date' <- date
                  return $
-                   ( if B.isNull title' then id else B.setMeta "title" title'
-                   . if null author' then id else B.setMeta "author" author'
-                   . if B.isNull date' then id else B.setMeta "date" date' )
-                   nullMeta
+                     (if B.isNull title' then id else B.setMeta "title" title')
+                   . (if null author' then id else B.setMeta "author" author')
+                   . (if B.isNull date' then id else B.setMeta "date" date')
+                   $ nullMeta
   updateState $ \st -> st{ stateMeta' = stateMeta' st <> meta' }
 
 yamlMetaBlock :: MarkdownParser (F Blocks)