diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Recipes/Builders/HomeAliasStep.cs b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Recipes/Builders/HomeAliasStep.cs
index 9c09db2c8..c974d3a55 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Recipes/Builders/HomeAliasStep.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Recipes/Builders/HomeAliasStep.cs
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ namespace Orchard.Autoroute.Recipes.Builders {
 
         public override void Build(BuildContext context) {
             var homeAliasRoute = _homeAliasService.GetHomeRoute() ?? new RouteValueDictionary();
-            var root = new XElement("HomeAlias", homeAliasRoute.Select(x => new XElement(Capitalize(x.Key), x.Value)));
+            var root = new XElement("HomeAlias");
             var homePage = _homeAliasService.GetHomePage(VersionOptions.Latest);
 
             // If the home alias points to a content item, store its identifier in addition to the routevalues,
@@ -41,6 +41,10 @@ namespace Orchard.Autoroute.Recipes.Builders {
                 var homePageIdentifier = _contentManager.GetItemMetadata(homePage).Identity.ToString();
                 root.Attr("Id", homePageIdentifier);
             }
+            else {
+                // The alias does not point to a content item, so export the route values instead.
+                root.Add(homeAliasRoute.Select(x => new XElement(Capitalize(x.Key), x.Value)).ToArray());
+            }
 
             context.RecipeDocument.Element("Orchard").Add(root);
         }
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Recipes/Executors/HomeAliasStep.cs b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Recipes/Executors/HomeAliasStep.cs
index 1ba4f3d24..a05c39603 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Recipes/Executors/HomeAliasStep.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Recipes/Executors/HomeAliasStep.cs
@@ -20,15 +20,16 @@ namespace Orchard.Autoroute.Recipes.Executors {
         
         public override void Execute(RecipeExecutionContext context) {
             var root = context.RecipeStep.Step;
-            var routeValueDictionary = root.Elements().ToDictionary(x => x.Name.LocalName.ToLower(), x => (object)x.Value);
             var homePageIdentifier = root.Attr("Id");
-            var homePageIdentity = new ContentIdentity(homePageIdentifier);
-            var homePage = !String.IsNullOrEmpty(homePageIdentifier) ? _contentManager.ResolveIdentity(homePageIdentity) : default(ContentItem);
+            var homePageIdentity = !String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(homePageIdentifier) ? new ContentIdentity(homePageIdentifier) : default(ContentIdentity);
+            var homePage = homePageIdentity != null ? _contentManager.ResolveIdentity(homePageIdentity) : default(ContentItem);
 
             if (homePage != null)
                 _homeAliasService.PublishHomeAlias(homePage);
-            else
+            else {
+                var routeValueDictionary = root.Elements().ToDictionary(x => x.Name.LocalName.ToLower(), x => (object) x.Value);
                 _homeAliasService.PublishHomeAlias(new RouteValueDictionary(routeValueDictionary));
+            }
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Services/HomeAliasService.cs b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Services/HomeAliasService.cs
index 21a2f51c9..50c6ebde0 100644
--- a/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Services/HomeAliasService.cs
+++ b/src/Orchard.Web/Modules/Orchard.Autoroute/Services/HomeAliasService.cs
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
-using System.Web.Routing;
+using System;
+using System.Web.Routing;
 using Orchard.Alias;
 using Orchard.ContentManagement;
 
@@ -20,12 +21,8 @@ namespace Orchard.Autoroute.Services {
 
         public int? GetHomePageId() {
             var homePageRoute = GetHomeRoute();
-            var homePageId = 
-                homePageRoute != null 
-                ? homePageRoute.ContainsKey("id") 
-                    ? XmlHelper.Parse<int>((string)homePageRoute["id"]) 
-                    : default(int?) 
-                : default(int?);
+            var homePageIdValue = homePageRoute != null && homePageRoute.ContainsKey("id") ? (string)homePageRoute["id"] : default(string);
+            var homePageId = TryParseInt32(homePageIdValue);
 
             return homePageId;
         }
@@ -51,5 +48,14 @@ namespace Orchard.Autoroute.Services {
             _aliasService.DeleteBySource(AliasSource);
             _aliasService.Set(HomeAlias, route, AliasSource);
         }
+
+        private int? TryParseInt32(string value) {
+            int i;
+
+            if (String.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(value) || !Int32.TryParse(value, out i))
+                return null;
+            
+            return i;
+        }
     }
 }
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