diff --git a/git_of_theseus/analyze.py b/git_of_theseus/analyze.py
index 303cbb0..8492070 100644
--- a/git_of_theseus/analyze.py
+++ b/git_of_theseus/analyze.py
@@ -546,7 +546,7 @@ def dump_json(output_fn, key_type, label_fmt=lambda x: x):
 
 @functools.lru_cache(maxsize=None)
 def get_mailmap_author_name_email(repo, author_name, author_email):
-    pre_mailmap_author_email = f"{author_name} <{author_email}>"
+    pre_mailmap_author_email = f"{author_name.lstrip('-') if author_name else author_email} <{author_email}>"
     mail_mapped_author_email: str = repo.git.check_mailmap(pre_mailmap_author_email)
     mailmap_name, mailmap_email = mail_mapped_author_email[:-1].split(" <", maxsplit=1)
     return mailmap_name, mailmap_email