diff --git a/packages/browser/src/gen/index.d.ts b/packages/browser/src/gen/index.d.ts
index c0b387dac..56585c661 100644
--- a/packages/browser/src/gen/index.d.ts
+++ b/packages/browser/src/gen/index.d.ts
@@ -8997,7 +8997,7 @@ export namespace Browser {
             // Optional
             author?: {
                 email: string;
-            } | undefined;
+            } | string | undefined;
             background_page?: string | undefined;
             chrome_settings_overrides?: {
                 homepage?: string | undefined;
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/__tests__/manifest.test.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/__tests__/manifest.test.ts
index c406a1d1e..39d8cc5e2 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/__tests__/manifest.test.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/__tests__/manifest.test.ts
@@ -1625,6 +1625,91 @@ describe('Manifest Utils', () => {
         );
       });
     });
+
+    describe('author field handling', () => {
+      it('should convert author object with email to string', async () => {
+        setFakeWxt({
+          config: {
+            outDir,
+            manifestVersion: 3,
+            manifest: {
+              author: { email: 'example@example.com' },
+            },
+          },
+        });
+        const buildOutput = fakeBuildOutput();
+
+        const { manifest: actual } = await generateManifest([], buildOutput);
+
+        expect(actual.author).toBe('example@example.com');
+      });
+
+      it('should handle author object without email property', async () => {
+        setFakeWxt({
+          config: {
+            outDir,
+            manifestVersion: 3,
+            manifest: {
+              author: {} as any,
+            },
+          },
+        });
+        const buildOutput = fakeBuildOutput();
+
+        const { manifest: actual } = await generateManifest([], buildOutput);
+
+        expect(actual.author).toBe('');
+      });
+
+      it('should preserve author when already a string', async () => {
+        setFakeWxt({
+          config: {
+            outDir,
+            manifestVersion: 3,
+            manifest: {
+              author: 'John Doe',
+            },
+          },
+        });
+        const buildOutput = fakeBuildOutput();
+
+        const { manifest: actual } = await generateManifest([], buildOutput);
+
+        expect(actual.author).toBe('John Doe');
+      });
+
+      it('should handle undefined author', async () => {
+        setFakeWxt({
+          config: {
+            outDir,
+            manifestVersion: 3,
+            manifest: {},
+          },
+        });
+        const buildOutput = fakeBuildOutput();
+
+        const { manifest: actual } = await generateManifest([], buildOutput);
+
+        expect(actual.author).toBeUndefined();
+      });
+
+      it('should handle null author', async () => {
+        setFakeWxt({
+          config: {
+            outDir,
+            manifestVersion: 3,
+            manifest: {
+              author: null as any,
+            },
+          },
+        });
+        const buildOutput = fakeBuildOutput();
+
+        const { manifest: actual } = await generateManifest([], buildOutput);
+
+        expect(actual.author).toBeUndefined();
+      });
+    });
   });
 
   describe('stripPathFromMatchPattern', () => {
diff --git a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/manifest.ts b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/manifest.ts
index 2f0b4c903..b01114e1c 100644
--- a/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/manifest.ts
+++ b/packages/wxt/src/core/utils/manifest.ts
@@ -76,7 +76,15 @@ export async function generateManifest(
     short_name: pkg?.shortName,
     icons: discoverIcons(buildOutput),
   };
-  const userManifest = wxt.config.manifest;
+  const userManifest = { ...wxt.config.manifest };
+
+  if (typeof userManifest.author === 'object' && userManifest.author !== null) {
+    wxt.logger.warn(
+      'manifest.author should be a string, not an object. Chromium browsers ignore this field, and Gecko-based (firefox based) only uses it for display.\nUpdate your config to: author: "Your Name"',
+    );
+    userManifest.author = userManifest.author.email ?? '';
+  }
+
   if (userManifest.manifest_version) {
     delete userManifest.manifest_version;
     wxt.logger.warn(