diff --git a/incorporealcms/markdown.py b/incorporealcms/markdown.py
index 9527d19..8f753c0 100644
--- a/incorporealcms/markdown.py
+++ b/incorporealcms/markdown.py
@@ -84,6 +84,21 @@ def parse_md(path: str, pages_root: str):
 
     rel_path = os.path.relpath(path, pages_root)
 
+    page_name, page_description = _get_metadata_from_parsed_page(md, content, rel_path)
+    page_title = f'{page_name} - {Config.TITLE_SUFFIX}' if page_name else Config.TITLE_SUFFIX
+    logger.debug("title (potentially derived): %s", page_title)
+
+    return content, md, page_name, page_title, page_description, mtime
+
+
+def _get_metadata_from_parsed_page(md, content, path: str):
+    """Get the page name and description from a Markdown object and/or HTML output of a page.
+
+    Args:
+        md: the parsed Markdown object, potentially including Meta tags
+        content: the Markdown page content converted to HTML, to run through BeautifulSoup
+        path: path of the page, to derive the name from as a fallback
+    """
     soup = BeautifulSoup(content, features='lxml')
 
     # get the page title first from the markdown tags, second from the first h1, last from the path
@@ -93,7 +108,7 @@ def parse_md(path: str, pages_root: str):
     elif h1_tag := soup.find('h1'):
         page_name = h1_tag.string
     elif not page_name:
-        page_name = instance_resource_path_to_request_path(rel_path)
+        page_name = instance_resource_path_to_request_path(path)
 
     # get the page description from the markdown tags or first paragraph
     page_description = None
@@ -103,10 +118,7 @@ def parse_md(path: str, pages_root: str):
         if page_description := p_tag.string:
             page_description = page_description.replace('\n', ' ')
 
-    page_title = f'{page_name} - {Config.TITLE_SUFFIX}' if page_name else Config.TITLE_SUFFIX
-    logger.debug("title (potentially derived): %s", page_title)
-
-    return content, md, page_name, page_title, page_description, mtime
+    return page_name, page_description
 
 
 def handle_markdown_file_path(path: str, pages_root: str) -> str:
@@ -175,9 +187,8 @@ def generate_parent_navs(path, pages_root: str):
         try:
             with open(os.path.join(pages_root, path), 'r') as entry_file:
                 entry = entry_file.read()
-            _ = Markup(md.convert(entry))       # nosec B704
-            page_name = (" ".join(md.Meta.get('title')) if md.Meta.get('title')
-                         else request_path_to_breadcrumb_display(request_path))
+            content = Markup(md.convert(entry))  # nosec B704
+            page_name, _ = _get_metadata_from_parsed_page(md, content, os.path.relpath(path, parent_resource_dir))
             return generate_parent_navs(parent_resource_path, pages_root) + [(page_name, request_path)]
         except FileNotFoundError:
             return generate_parent_navs(parent_resource_path, pages_root) + [(request_path, request_path)]
diff --git a/tests/test_markdown.py b/tests/test_markdown.py
index c5a9dfd..addb36e 100644
--- a/tests/test_markdown.py
+++ b/tests/test_markdown.py
@@ -26,14 +26,21 @@ def test_generate_page_navs_index():
     assert generate_parent_navs('index.md', PAGES_DIR) == [('example.org', '/')]
 
 
+def test_generate_page_navs_title_from_h1():
+    """Test that the index page has navs to the root (itself)."""
+    assert generate_parent_navs('no-title.md', PAGES_DIR) == [('example.org', '/'),
+                                                              ('this page doesn\'t have a title!', '/no-title')]
+
+
 def test_generate_page_navs_subdir_index():
     """Test that dir pages have navs to the root and themselves."""
-    assert generate_parent_navs('subdir/index.md', PAGES_DIR) == [('example.org', '/'), ('subdir', '/subdir/')]
+    assert generate_parent_navs('subdir/index.md', PAGES_DIR) == [('example.org', '/'), ('another page', '/subdir/')]
 
 
 def test_generate_page_navs_subdir_real_page():
     """Test that real pages have navs to the root, their parent, and themselves."""
-    assert generate_parent_navs('subdir/page.md', PAGES_DIR) == [('example.org', '/'), ('subdir', '/subdir/'),
+    assert generate_parent_navs('subdir/page.md', PAGES_DIR) == [('example.org', '/'),
+                                                                 ('another page', '/subdir/'),
                                                                  ('Page', '/subdir/page')]
 
 
@@ -42,7 +49,7 @@ def test_generate_page_navs_subdir_with_title_parsing_real_page():
     assert generate_parent_navs('subdir-with-title/page.md', PAGES_DIR) == [
         ('example.org', '/'),
         ('SUB!', '/subdir-with-title/'),
-        ('page', '/subdir-with-title/page')
+        ('/page', '/subdir-with-title/page')
     ]
 
 
@@ -51,7 +58,7 @@ def test_generate_page_navs_subdir_with_no_index():
     assert generate_parent_navs('no-index-dir/page.md', PAGES_DIR) == [
         ('example.org', '/'),
         ('/no-index-dir/', '/no-index-dir/'),
-        ('page', '/no-index-dir/page')
+        ('/page', '/no-index-dir/page')
     ]