diff --git a/includes/common.inc b/includes/common.inc
index dc4624d6cb36ec9719df61882935a59dc4d18229..71805afacca800f161b9385bb9eb7ca32aa6bcf9 100644
--- a/includes/common.inc
+++ b/includes/common.inc
@@ -5548,7 +5548,7 @@ function element_children(&$elements, $sort = FALSE) {
   $children = array();
   $sortable = FALSE;
   foreach ($elements as $key => $value) {
-    if ($key[0] !== '#') {
+    if ($key === '' || $key[0] !== '#') {
       $children[$key] = $value;
       if (is_array($value) && isset($value['#weight'])) {
         $sortable = TRUE;
diff --git a/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test b/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test
index ce4bc9681f932b490f1029b5b90326f00ba983a7..c3ef7fd9d058b2ee9b601efdf19a9a26afc8e84f 100644
--- a/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test
+++ b/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class FormsTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
     $elements['textarea']['element'] = array('#title' => $this->randomName(), '#type' => 'textarea');
     $elements['textarea']['empty_values'] = $empty_strings;
 
-    $elements['radios']['element'] = array('#title' => $this->randomName(), '#type' => 'radios', '#options' => array($this->randomName(), $this->randomName(), $this->randomName()));
+    $elements['radios']['element'] = array('#title' => $this->randomName(), '#type' => 'radios', '#options' => array('' => t('None'), $this->randomName(), $this->randomName(), $this->randomName()));
     $elements['radios']['empty_values'] = $empty_arrays;
 
     $elements['checkbox']['element'] = array('#title' => $this->randomName(), '#type' => 'checkbox', '#required' => TRUE, '#title' => $this->randomName());
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ class FormsTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
     $elements['checkboxes']['element'] = array('#title' => $this->randomName(), '#type' => 'checkboxes', '#options' => array($this->randomName(), $this->randomName(), $this->randomName()));
     $elements['checkboxes']['empty_values'] = $empty_arrays;
 
-    $elements['select']['element'] = array('#title' => $this->randomName(), '#type' => 'select', '#options' => array($this->randomName(), $this->randomName(), $this->randomName()));
+    $elements['select']['element'] = array('#title' => $this->randomName(), '#type' => 'select', '#options' => array('' => t('None'), $this->randomName(), $this->randomName(), $this->randomName()));
     $elements['select']['empty_values'] = $empty_strings;
 
     $elements['file']['element'] = array('#title' => $this->randomName(), '#type' => 'file');