diff --git a/Dalamud/Interface/Internal/Windows/PluginInstallerWindow.cs b/Dalamud/Interface/Internal/Windows/PluginInstallerWindow.cs
index 9cb49c471..07b86c7fa 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Interface/Internal/Windows/PluginInstallerWindow.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Interface/Internal/Windows/PluginInstallerWindow.cs
@@ -1889,7 +1889,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Interface.Internal.Windows
 
             return hasSearchString && !(
                 manifest.Name.ToLowerInvariant().Contains(searchString) ||
-                manifest.Author.Equals(this.searchText, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase) ||
+                (!manifest.Author.IsNullOrEmpty() && manifest.Author.Equals(this.searchText, StringComparison.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)) ||
                 (manifest.Tags != null && manifest.Tags.Contains(searchString, StringComparer.InvariantCultureIgnoreCase)));
         }
 
diff --git a/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/PluginManager.cs b/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/PluginManager.cs
index 423fba98f..d7ef38f05 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/PluginManager.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/PluginManager.cs
@@ -247,9 +247,9 @@ namespace Dalamud.Plugin.Internal
                     {
                         // Not a plugin
                     }
-                    catch (Exception)
+                    catch (Exception ex)
                     {
-                        Log.Error("During boot plugin load, an unexpected error occurred");
+                        Log.Error(ex, "During boot plugin load, an unexpected error occurred");
                     }
                 }
             }
@@ -519,6 +519,9 @@ namespace Dalamud.Plugin.Internal
 
             LocalPlugin plugin;
 
+            if (!manifest.CheckSanity())
+                throw new InvalidOperationException("Plugin manifest is not sane.");
+
             if (isDev)
             {
                 Log.Information($"Loading dev plugin {name}");
diff --git a/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/Types/LocalPluginManifest.cs b/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/Types/LocalPluginManifest.cs
index 21f0bd8d7..36e4d3c3c 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/Types/LocalPluginManifest.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/Types/LocalPluginManifest.cs
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 using System.IO;
-
+using Dalamud.Utility;
 using Newtonsoft.Json;
 
 namespace Dalamud.Plugin.Internal.Types
@@ -10,6 +10,24 @@ namespace Dalamud.Plugin.Internal.Types
     /// </summary>
     internal record LocalPluginManifest : PluginManifest
     {
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Check if this manifest is valid.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns>Whether or not this manifest is valid.</returns>
+        public bool CheckSanity()
+        {
+            if (this.InternalName.IsNullOrEmpty())
+                return false;
+
+            if (this.Name.IsNullOrEmpty())
+                return false;
+
+            if (this.DalamudApiLevel != 0)
+                return false;
+
+            return true;
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets or sets a value indicating whether the plugin is disabled and should not be loaded.
         /// This value supercedes the ".disabled" file functionality and should not be included in the plugin master.
diff --git a/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/Types/PluginManifest.cs b/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/Types/PluginManifest.cs
index 5083d7e4c..9d28a1b5c 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/Types/PluginManifest.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Plugin/Internal/Types/PluginManifest.cs
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ namespace Dalamud.Plugin.Internal.Types
         /// Gets the author/s of the plugin.
         /// </summary>
         [JsonProperty]
-        public string Author { get; init; }
+        public string? Author { get; init; }
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Gets or sets the public name of the plugin.
diff --git a/Dalamud/Utility/StringExtensions.cs b/Dalamud/Utility/StringExtensions.cs
index f452a2a0f..3aa9f70bd 100644
--- a/Dalamud/Utility/StringExtensions.cs
+++ b/Dalamud/Utility/StringExtensions.cs
@@ -18,13 +18,13 @@ namespace Dalamud.Utility
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="value">The string to test.</param>
         /// <returns>true if the value parameter is null or an empty string (""); otherwise, false.</returns>
-        public static bool IsNullOrEmpty(this string value) => string.IsNullOrEmpty(value);
+        public static bool IsNullOrEmpty(this string? value) => string.IsNullOrEmpty(value);
 
         /// <summary>
         /// Indicates whether a specified string is null, empty, or consists only of white-space characters.
         /// </summary>
         /// <param name="value">The string to test.</param>
         /// <returns>true if the value parameter is null or an empty string (""), or if value consists exclusively of white-space characters.</returns>
-        public static bool IsNullOrWhitespace(this string value) => string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(value);
+        public static bool IsNullOrWhitespace(this string? value) => string.IsNullOrWhiteSpace(value);
     }
 }