diff --git a/includes/install.core.inc b/includes/install.core.inc
index fcf8812e1ca1eda3686b5f636eefc72bd66bee54..f162bebceea413c2a1494d3670f71674c01163a9 100644
--- a/includes/install.core.inc
+++ b/includes/install.core.inc
@@ -1759,6 +1759,7 @@ function _install_configure_form($form, &$form_state, &$install_state) {
   $form['server_settings']['site_default_country'] = array(
     '#type' => 'select',
     '#title' => t('Default country'),
+    '#empty_value' => '',
     '#default_value' => variable_get('site_default_country', NULL),
     '#options' => $countries,
     '#description' => st('Select the default country for the site.'),
diff --git a/modules/system/system.admin.inc b/modules/system/system.admin.inc
index 2af689a6eb3957f06259ceb72a4d72430823fb08..38c4cd83862ded0924861b98fcaec0babe700c6f 100644
--- a/modules/system/system.admin.inc
+++ b/modules/system/system.admin.inc
@@ -1870,8 +1870,6 @@ function system_rss_feeds_settings() {
 function system_regional_settings() {
   include_once DRUPAL_ROOT . '/includes/locale.inc';
   $countries = country_get_list();
-  // Add a 'No default country' option to the start of the list.
-  $countries = array_merge(array('' => t('No default country')), $countries);
 
   // Date settings:
   $zones = system_time_zones();
@@ -1884,6 +1882,7 @@ function system_regional_settings() {
   $form['locale']['site_default_country'] = array(
     '#type' => 'select',
     '#title' => t('Default country'),
+    '#empty_value' => '',
     '#default_value' => variable_get('site_default_country', ''),
     '#options' => $countries,
     '#attributes' => array('class' => array('country-detect')),