diff --git a/nodewords.install b/nodewords.install
index 2cd71f6..76a7c78 100644
--- a/nodewords.install
+++ b/nodewords.install
@@ -1731,3 +1731,15 @@ function nodewords_update_6185() {
 
   return $ret;
 }
+
+/**
+ * Remove an unused variable.
+ */
+function nodewords_update_6186() {
+  $ret = array();
+
+  drupal_set_message(t('A legacy variable has been removed.'));
+  variable_del('nodewords_filter_regexp');
+
+  return $ret;
+}
diff --git a/nodewords.module b/nodewords.module
index 6f055ed..5603c9b 100644
--- a/nodewords.module
+++ b/nodewords.module
@@ -1022,14 +1022,8 @@ function nodewords_mass_update($ids, $type, $operation = 'delete') {
  *   The string used as meta tag content.
  */
 function nodewords_metatag_from_node_content($node, $content, $options = array()) {
-  $default_options = array(
-    'size' => variable_get('nodewords_max_size', 350),
-  );
-  $filters = filter_list_format($node->format);
+  // The method used to generate the summary string.
   $method = variable_get('nodewords_metatags_generation_method_' . $node->type, NODEWORDS_GENERATION_WHEN_EMPTY);
-  $options += $default_options;
-  $result = '';
-  $source = variable_get('nodewords_metatags_generation_source_' . $node->type, NODEWORDS_GENERATION_TEASER);
 
   // If not generating an automatic description, return immediately.
   if ($method == NODEWORDS_GENERATION_NEVER
@@ -1037,63 +1031,68 @@ function nodewords_metatag_from_node_content($node, $content, $options = array()
     return $content;
   }
 
+  // Proceed as normal.
+  $result = '';
+  $source = variable_get('nodewords_metatags_generation_source_' . $node->type, NODEWORDS_GENERATION_TEASER);
+
   // If generating an automatic description, determine the source.
-  $text = '';
   if (!empty($node->teaser) && ($source == NODEWORDS_GENERATION_TEASER || $source == NODEWORDS_GENERATION_TEASER_BODY)) {
-    $text = $node->teaser;
+    $result = $node->teaser;
   }
   elseif (!empty($node->body) && ($source == NODEWORDS_GENERATION_BODY || ($source == NODEWORDS_GENERATION_TEASER_BODY && empty($node->teaser)))) {
-    $text = $node->body;
+    $result = $node->body;
   }
 
   // Clean up the text by running it through applicable filters.
-  if (!empty($text)) {
-    // Check for the presence of the PHP evaluator filter in the current
-    // format. If the text contains PHP code, do not split it up to prevent
-    // parse errors.
-    if (isset($filters['php/0']) && strpos($text, '<?') !== FALSE) {
-      $result = '';
+  if (!empty($result)) {
+    // Ensure there's a setting for controlling the maximum summary length.
+    if (!isset($options['size'])) {
+      $options['size'] = variable_get('nodewords_max_size', 350);
     }
-    else {
-      // Replace the tag IMG with the attribute ALT, and strip off all the
-      // HTML tags.
-      $result = strip_tags(
-        preg_replace_callback("/<img\s[^>]*alt=[\"']([^\"']*)[\"'][^>]*>/i",
-          '_nodewords_teaser_match_callback',
-          $text
-        )
-      );
 
-      // Remove the strings added from third-party modules.
-      $modules = array_filter(
-        variable_get('nodewords_filter_modules_output_' . $node->type, array())
-      );
-      $regexps = array(
-        'imagebrowser' => '/\[ibimage[^\]]*\]/i',
-        'img_assist' => '/\[img_assist[^\]]*\]/i',
-      );
+    // Check for the presence of the PHP evaluator filter in the current format.
+    // If the text contains PHP code, do not split it up to prevent parse errors.
+    $filters = filter_list_format($node->format);
+    if (isset($filters['php/0']) && strpos($result, '<?') !== FALSE) {
+      return '';
+    }
 
-      foreach ($regexps as $module => $regexp) {
-        if (isset($modules[$module])) {
-          $result = preg_replace($regexp, '', $result);
-        }
-      }
+    // Optionally replace the tag IMG with its ALT attribute.
+    if (variable_get('nodewords_use_alt_attribute', FALSE)) {
+      $result = preg_replace("/<img\s[^>]*alt=[\"']([^\"']*)[\"'][^>]*>/i", ' ($1) ', $result);
+    }
 
-      // Remove the text matching the type-specific regular expression.
-      if ($regexp = trim(variable_get('nodewords_filter_regexp_' . $node->type, ''))) {
-        $text = preg_replace('/' . $regexp . '/', '', $text);
-      }
+    // Strip off all the HTML tags.
+    $result = strip_tags($result);
 
-      // Remove the text matching the global regular expression.
-      if ($regexp = trim(variable_get('nodewords_filter_regexp', ''))) {
-        $text = preg_replace('/' . $regexp . '/', '', $text);
+    // Remove the strings added from third-party modules.
+    $modules = array_filter(variable_get('nodewords_filter_modules_output_' . $node->type, array()));
+    $regexps = array(
+      'imagebrowser' => '/\[ibimage[^\]]*\]/i',
+      'img_assist' => '/\[img_assist[^\]]*\]/i',
+    );
+    foreach ($regexps as $module => $regexp) {
+      if (isset($modules[$module])) {
+        $result = preg_replace($regexp, '', $result);
       }
+    }
 
-      $result = node_teaser(
-        trim(preg_replace('/(\r\n?|\n)/', ' ', $text)),
-        $node->format, $options['size']
-      );
+    // Remove the text matching the type-specific regular expression.
+    if ($regexp = trim(variable_get('nodewords_filter_regexp_' . $node->type, ''))) {
+      $result = preg_replace('/' . $regexp . '/', '', $result);
     }
+
+    // Remove line breaks.
+    $result = preg_replace('/(\r\n?|\n)/', ' ', $result);
+
+    // Remove any leading & trailing whitespace.
+    $result = trim($result);
+
+    // Remove excess inline whitespace.
+    $result = preg_replace('/\s\s+/', ' ', $result);
+
+    // Trim the filtered text to the maximum length allowed.
+    $result = node_teaser($result, $node->format, $options['size']);
   }
 
   return $result;
@@ -1537,24 +1536,6 @@ function _nodewords_output_tags($tags, $output_type = 'head') {
 }
 
 /**
- * Helper function for preg_match_callback(), called when replacing the tag img
- * in the teaser, when using it as meta tag DESCRIPTION content.
- */
-function _nodewords_teaser_match_callback($matches) {
-  static $bool;
-
-  if (!isset($bool)) {
-    $bool = variable_get('nodewords_use_alt_attribute', FALSE);
-  }
-
-  if ($bool && !empty($matches[1])) {
-    return ' ' . $matches[1] . ' ';
-  }
-
-  return '';
-}
-
-/**
  * Provide a complete path for the current URL, optionally using a value
  * manually assigned via a form.
  *