diff --git a/wp-admin/user-edit.php b/wp-admin/user-edit.php
index 851451ac06..f7ab8f7a21 100644
--- a/wp-admin/user-edit.php
+++ b/wp-admin/user-edit.php
@@ -103,11 +103,22 @@ if ( !current_user_can('edit_user', $user_id) )
 <?php
 // print_r($profileuser);
 echo '<select name="role">';
+$role_list = '';
+$user_has_role = false;
 foreach($wp_roles->role_names as $role => $name) {
-	$selected = ($profileuser->has_cap($role)) ? ' selected="selected"' : '';
-	echo "<option value=\"{$role}\"{$selected}>{$name}</option>";
+	if ( $profileuser->has_cap($role) ) {
+		$selected = ' selected="selected"';
+		$user_has_role = true;
+	} else {
+		$selected = '';
+	}
+	$role_list .= "<option value=\"{$role}\"{$selected}>{$name}</option>";
 }
-echo '</select>';
+if ( $user_has_role )
+	$role_list .= '<option value="">' . __('&mdash; No role for this blog &mdash;') . '</option>';
+else
+	$role_list .= '<option value="" selected="selected">' . __('&mdash; No role for this blog &mdash;') . '</option>';
+echo $role_list . '</select>';
 ?></label></p>
 
 <p><label><?php _e('First name:') ?><br />
diff --git a/wp-admin/users.php b/wp-admin/users.php
index 87a33e84ce..7724e2676f 100644
--- a/wp-admin/users.php
+++ b/wp-admin/users.php
@@ -313,7 +313,11 @@ foreach($roleclasses as $role => $roleclass) {
 ?>
 
 <tr>
+<?php if ( !empty($role) ) : ?>
 	<th colspan="7" align="left"><h3><?php echo $wp_roles->role_names[$role]; ?></h3></th>
+<?php else : ?>
+	<th colspan="7" align="left"><h3><em><?php _e('No role for this blog'); ?></h3></th>
+<?php endif; ?>
 </tr>
 <tr class="thead">
 	<th style="text-align: left"><?php _e('ID') ?></th>
diff --git a/wp-includes/capabilities.php b/wp-includes/capabilities.php
index a1dfa56a3f..3e85e4fba0 100644
--- a/wp-includes/capabilities.php
+++ b/wp-includes/capabilities.php
@@ -174,7 +174,7 @@ class WP_User {
 
 		//Build $allcaps from role caps, overlay user's $caps
 		$this->allcaps = array();
-		foreach($this->roles as $role) {
+		foreach( (array) $this->roles as $role) {
 			$role = $wp_roles->get_role($role);
 			$this->allcaps = array_merge($this->allcaps, $role->capabilities);
 		}
@@ -199,8 +199,12 @@ class WP_User {
 	function set_role($role) {
 		foreach($this->roles as $oldrole)
 			unset($this->caps[$oldrole]);
-		$this->caps[$role] = true;
-		$this->roles = array($role => true);
+		if ( !empty($role) ) {
+			$this->caps[$role] = true;
+			$this->roles = array($role => true);
+		} else {
+			$this->roles = false;
+		}
 		update_usermeta($this->id, $this->cap_key, $this->caps);
 		$this->get_role_caps();
 		$this->update_user_level_from_caps();
diff --git a/wp-includes/registration-functions.php b/wp-includes/registration-functions.php
index a0860bd041..f66441edda 100644
--- a/wp-includes/registration-functions.php
+++ b/wp-includes/registration-functions.php
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ function wp_insert_user($userdata) {
 	update_usermeta( $user_id, 'aim', $aim );
 	update_usermeta( $user_id, 'yim', $yim );
 
-	if ($update && !empty($role)) {
+	if ( $update ) {
 		$user = new WP_User($user_id);
 		$user->set_role($role);
 	}