Index: wp-includes/post-template.php
IDEA additional info:
Subsystem: com.intellij.openapi.diff.impl.patch.CharsetEP
<+>UTF-8
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/post-template.php	(revision )
+++ wp-includes/post-template.php	(revision )
@@ -1016,22 +1016,22 @@
  */
 function the_meta() {
 	if ( $keys = get_post_custom_keys() ) {
-		echo "<ul class='post-meta'>\n";
+		$li_html = '';
 		foreach ( (array) $keys as $key ) {
 			$keyt = trim( $key );
 			if ( is_protected_meta( $keyt, 'post' ) ) {
 				continue;
 			}
-
+			
 			$values = array_map( 'trim', get_post_custom_values( $key ) );
-			$value = implode( $values, ', ' );
-
+			$value  = implode( $values, ', ' );
+			
 			$html = sprintf( "<li><span class='post-meta-key'>%s</span> %s</li>\n",
 				/* translators: %s: Post custom field name */
 				sprintf( _x( '%s:', 'Post custom field name' ), $key ),
 				$value
 			);
-
+			
 			/**
 			 * Filters the HTML output of the li element in the post custom fields list.
 			 *
@@ -1041,9 +1041,12 @@
 			 * @param string $key   Meta key.
 			 * @param string $value Meta value.
 			 */
-			echo apply_filters( 'the_meta_key', $html, $key, $value );
+			$li_html .= apply_filters( 'the_meta_key', $html, $key, $value );
 		}
-		echo "</ul>\n";
+		
+		if ( $li_html ) {
+			echo "<ul class='post-meta'>\n$li_html</ul>\n";
+		}
 	}
 }