diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 85fed6d3ad7..8c2569aaa26 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -583,7 +583,7 @@ Available for the media that is a track or a part of a music album:
  - `disc_number` (numeric): Number of the disc or other physical medium the track belongs to
  - `release_year` (numeric): Year (YYYY) when the album was released
 
-Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. Note that some of the sequences are not guaranteed to be present since they depend on the metadata obtained by a particular extractor. Such sequences will be replaced with `NA`.
+Each aforementioned sequence when referenced in an output template will be replaced by the actual value corresponding to the sequence name. Note that some of the sequences are not guaranteed to be present since they depend on the metadata obtained by a particular extractor. Such sequences will be replaced with placeholder value provided with `--output-na-placeholder` (`NA` by default).
 
 For example for `-o %(title)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s` and an mp4 video with title `youtube-dl test video` and id `BaW_jenozKcj`, this will result in a `youtube-dl test video-BaW_jenozKcj.mp4` file created in the current directory.
 
diff --git a/test/test_YoutubeDL.py b/test/test_YoutubeDL.py
index 4d62ba1457b..a35effe0e4a 100644
--- a/test/test_YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/test/test_YoutubeDL.py
@@ -633,13 +633,20 @@ def test_prepare_filename(self):
             'title2': '%PATH%',
         }
 
-        def fname(templ):
-            ydl = YoutubeDL({'outtmpl': templ})
+        def fname(templ, na_placeholder='NA'):
+            params = {'outtmpl': templ}
+            if na_placeholder != 'NA':
+                params['outtmpl_na_placeholder'] = na_placeholder
+            ydl = YoutubeDL(params)
             return ydl.prepare_filename(info)
         self.assertEqual(fname('%(id)s.%(ext)s'), '1234.mp4')
         self.assertEqual(fname('%(id)s-%(width)s.%(ext)s'), '1234-NA.mp4')
-        # Replace missing fields with 'NA'
-        self.assertEqual(fname('%(uploader_date)s-%(id)s.%(ext)s'), 'NA-1234.mp4')
+        NA_TEST_OUTTMPL = '%(uploader_date)s-%(width)d-%(id)s.%(ext)s'
+        # Replace missing fields with 'NA' by default
+        self.assertEqual(fname(NA_TEST_OUTTMPL), 'NA-NA-1234.mp4')
+        # Or by provided placeholder
+        self.assertEqual(fname(NA_TEST_OUTTMPL, na_placeholder='none'), 'none-none-1234.mp4')
+        self.assertEqual(fname(NA_TEST_OUTTMPL, na_placeholder=''), '--1234.mp4')
         self.assertEqual(fname('%(height)d.%(ext)s'), '1080.mp4')
         self.assertEqual(fname('%(height)6d.%(ext)s'), '  1080.mp4')
         self.assertEqual(fname('%(height)-6d.%(ext)s'), '1080  .mp4')
diff --git a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
index efd42fa6301..ecac31f7a47 100755
--- a/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/YoutubeDL.py
@@ -163,6 +163,7 @@ class YoutubeDL(object):
     simulate:          Do not download the video files.
     format:            Video format code. See options.py for more information.
     outtmpl:           Template for output names.
+    outtmpl_na_placeholder: Placeholder for unavailable meta fields.
     restrictfilenames: Do not allow "&" and spaces in file names
     ignoreerrors:      Do not stop on download errors.
     force_generic_extractor: Force downloader to use the generic extractor
@@ -658,7 +659,7 @@ def prepare_filename(self, info_dict):
             template_dict = dict((k, v if isinstance(v, compat_numeric_types) else sanitize(k, v))
                                  for k, v in template_dict.items()
                                  if v is not None and not isinstance(v, (list, tuple, dict)))
-            template_dict = collections.defaultdict(lambda: 'NA', template_dict)
+            template_dict = collections.defaultdict(lambda: self.params.get('outtmpl_na_placeholder', 'NA'), template_dict)
 
             outtmpl = self.params.get('outtmpl', DEFAULT_OUTTMPL)
 
@@ -678,8 +679,8 @@ def prepare_filename(self, info_dict):
 
             # Missing numeric fields used together with integer presentation types
             # in format specification will break the argument substitution since
-            # string 'NA' is returned for missing fields. We will patch output
-            # template for missing fields to meet string presentation type.
+            # string NA placeholder is returned for missing fields. We will patch
+            # output template for missing fields to meet string presentation type.
             for numeric_field in self._NUMERIC_FIELDS:
                 if numeric_field not in template_dict:
                     # As of [1] format syntax is:
diff --git a/youtube_dl/__init__.py b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
index 9a659fc654d..e1bd67919cf 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/__init__.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/__init__.py
@@ -340,6 +340,7 @@ def parse_retries(retries):
         'format': opts.format,
         'listformats': opts.listformats,
         'outtmpl': outtmpl,
+        'outtmpl_na_placeholder': opts.outtmpl_na_placeholder,
         'autonumber_size': opts.autonumber_size,
         'autonumber_start': opts.autonumber_start,
         'restrictfilenames': opts.restrictfilenames,
diff --git a/youtube_dl/options.py b/youtube_dl/options.py
index 3000ba41e7b..6b0c62e199f 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/options.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/options.py
@@ -689,6 +689,10 @@ def _comma_separated_values_options_callback(option, opt_str, value, parser):
         '-o', '--output',
         dest='outtmpl', metavar='TEMPLATE',
         help=('Output filename template, see the "OUTPUT TEMPLATE" for all the info'))
+    filesystem.add_option(
+        '--output-na-placeholder',
+        dest='outtmpl_na_placeholder', metavar='PLACEHOLDER', default='NA',
+        help=('Placeholder value for unavailable meta fields in output filename template (default is "%default")'))
     filesystem.add_option(
         '--autonumber-size',
         dest='autonumber_size', metavar='NUMBER', type=int,