diff --git a/hugolib/page.go b/hugolib/page.go
index b139bbb79..f281053a2 100644
--- a/hugolib/page.go
+++ b/hugolib/page.go
@@ -463,12 +463,15 @@ func (p *Page) RelPermalink() (string, error) {
 	return link.String(), nil
 }
 
+var ErrHasDraftAndPublished = errors.New("both draft and published parameters were found in page's frontmatter")
+
 func (p *Page) update(f interface{}) error {
 	if f == nil {
 		return fmt.Errorf("no metadata found")
 	}
 	m := f.(map[string]interface{})
 	var err error
+	var draft, published *bool
 	for k, v := range m {
 		loki := strings.ToLower(k)
 		switch loki {
@@ -507,7 +510,11 @@ func (p *Page) update(f interface{}) error {
 				jww.ERROR.Printf("Failed to parse publishdate '%v' in page %s", v, p.File.Path())
 			}
 		case "draft":
-			p.Draft = cast.ToBool(v)
+			draft = new(bool)
+			*draft = cast.ToBool(v)
+		case "published": // Intentionally undocumented
+			published = new(bool)
+			*published = !cast.ToBool(v)
 		case "layout":
 			p.layout = cast.ToString(v)
 		case "markup":
@@ -565,6 +572,16 @@ func (p *Page) update(f interface{}) error {
 		}
 	}
 
+	if draft != nil && published != nil {
+		p.Draft = *draft
+		jww.ERROR.Printf("page %s has both draft and published settings in its frontmatter. Using draft.", p.File.Path())
+		return ErrHasDraftAndPublished
+	} else if draft != nil {
+		p.Draft = *draft
+	} else if published != nil {
+		p.Draft = !*published
+	}
+
 	if p.Lastmod.IsZero() {
 		p.Lastmod = p.Date
 	}
diff --git a/hugolib/page_test.go b/hugolib/page_test.go
index 9b613d05f..7a9c12321 100644
--- a/hugolib/page_test.go
+++ b/hugolib/page_test.go
@@ -854,6 +854,21 @@ func TestPagePaths(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+var PAGE_WITH_DRAFT_AND_PUBLISHED = `---
+title: broken
+published: false
+draft: true
+---
+some content
+`
+
+func TestDraftAndPublishedFrontMatterError(t *testing.T) {
+	_, err := NewPageFrom(strings.NewReader(PAGE_WITH_DRAFT_AND_PUBLISHED), "content/post/broken.md")
+	if err != ErrHasDraftAndPublished {
+		t.Errorf("expected ErrHasDraftAndPublished, was %#v", err)
+	}
+}
+
 func listEqual(left, right []string) bool {
 	if len(left) != len(right) {
 		return false