diff --git a/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py b/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py
index b35bf03aa..1a2088eda 100644
--- a/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py
+++ b/youtube_dl/extractor/youtube.py
@@ -2231,12 +2231,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(YoutubeBaseInfoExtractor):
             video_uploader_id = mobj.group('uploader_id')
             video_uploader_url = mobj.group('uploader_url')
         else:
-            owner_profile_url = url_or_none(microformat.get('ownerProfileUrl'))
-            if owner_profile_url:
-                video_uploader_id = self._search_regex(
-                    r'(?:user|channel)/([^/]+)', owner_profile_url, 'uploader id',
-                    default=None)
-                video_uploader_url = owner_profile_url
+            self._downloader.report_warning('unable to extract uploader nickname')
 
         channel_id = (
             str_or_none(video_details.get('channelId'))
@@ -2247,33 +2242,16 @@ class YoutubeIE(YoutubeBaseInfoExtractor):
                 video_webpage, 'channel id', default=None, group='id'))
         channel_url = 'http://www.youtube.com/channel/%s' % channel_id if channel_id else None
 
-        thumbnails = []
-        thumbnails_list = try_get(
-            video_details, lambda x: x['thumbnail']['thumbnails'], list) or []
-        for t in thumbnails_list:
-            if not isinstance(t, dict):
-                continue
-            thumbnail_url = url_or_none(t.get('url'))
-            if not thumbnail_url:
-                continue
-            thumbnails.append({
-                'url': thumbnail_url,
-                'width': int_or_none(t.get('width')),
-                'height': int_or_none(t.get('height')),
-            })
-
-        if not thumbnails:
+        # thumbnail image
+        # We try first to get a high quality image:
+        m_thumb = re.search(r'<span itemprop="thumbnail".*?href="(.*?)">',video_webpage, re.DOTALL)
+        if m_thumb is not None:
+            video_thumbnail = m_thumb.group(1)
+        elif 'thumbnail_url' not in video_info:
+            self._downloader.report_warning('unable to extract video thumbnail')
             video_thumbnail = None
-            # We try first to get a high quality image:
-            m_thumb = re.search(r'<span itemprop="thumbnail".*?href="(.*?)">',
-                                video_webpage, re.DOTALL)
-            if m_thumb is not None:
-                video_thumbnail = m_thumb.group(1)
-            thumbnail_url = try_get(video_info, lambda x: x['thumbnail_url'][0], compat_str)
-            if thumbnail_url:
-                video_thumbnail = compat_urllib_parse_unquote_plus(thumbnail_url)
-            if video_thumbnail:
-                thumbnails.append({'url': video_thumbnail})
+        else:   # don't panic if we can't find it
+            video_thumbnail = compat_urllib_parse_unquote_plus(video_info['thumbnail_url'][0])
 
         # upload date
         upload_date = self._html_search_meta(
@@ -2512,7 +2490,7 @@ class YoutubeIE(YoutubeBaseInfoExtractor):
             'creator': video_creator or artist,
             'title': video_title,
             'alt_title': video_alt_title or track,
-            'thumbnails': thumbnails,
+            'thumbnail': video_thumbnail,
             'description': video_description,
             'categories': video_categories,
             'tags': video_tags,