diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/schema.php b/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
index e912f637c..006f05694 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
@@ -314,6 +314,10 @@ function populate_options() {
 	'embed_autourls' => 1,
 	'embed_size_w' => '',
 	'embed_size_h' => 600,
+
+	// 3.0
+	'page_for_posts' => 0,
+	'page_on_front' => 0,
 	);
 
 	// 3.0 multisite
diff --git a/wp-admin/options-reading.php b/wp-admin/options-reading.php
index 26fa614b3..7cd4c463c 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-reading.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-reading.php
@@ -38,7 +38,10 @@ include( './admin-header.php' );
 <?php if ( ! get_pages() ) : ?>
 <input name="show_on_front" type="hidden" value="posts" />
 <table class="form-table">
-<?php else : ?>
+<?php else :
+	if ( 'page' == get_option( 'show_on_front' ) && ! get_option( 'page_on_front' ) && ! get_option( 'page_for_posts' ) )
+		update_option( 'show_on_front', 'posts' );
+?>
 <table class="form-table">
 <tr valign="top">
 <th scope="row"><?php _e( 'Front page displays' ); ?></th>
@@ -54,8 +57,8 @@ include( './admin-header.php' );
 	</label>
 	</p>
 <ul>
-	<li><label for="page_on_front"><?php printf( __( 'Front page: %s' ), wp_dropdown_pages( array( 'name' => 'page_on_front', 'echo' => 0, 'show_option_none' => __( '&mdash; Select &mdash;' ), 'selected' => get_option( 'page_on_front' ) ) ) ); ?></label></li>
-	<li><label for="page_for_posts"><?php printf( __( 'Posts page: %s' ), wp_dropdown_pages( array( 'name' => 'page_for_posts', 'echo' => 0, 'show_option_none' => __( '&mdash; Select &mdash;' ), 'selected' => get_option( 'page_for_posts' ) ) ) ); ?></label></li>
+	<li><label for="page_on_front"><?php printf( __( 'Front page: %s' ), wp_dropdown_pages( array( 'name' => 'page_on_front', 'echo' => 0, 'show_option_none' => __( '&mdash; Select &mdash;' ), 'option_none_value' => '0', 'selected' => get_option( 'page_on_front' ) ) ) ); ?></label></li>
+	<li><label for="page_for_posts"><?php printf( __( 'Posts page: %s' ), wp_dropdown_pages( array( 'name' => 'page_for_posts', 'echo' => 0, 'show_option_none' => __( '&mdash; Select &mdash;' ), 'option_none_value' => '0', 'selected' => get_option( 'page_for_posts' ) ) ) ); ?></label></li>
 </ul>
 <?php if ( 'page' == get_option( 'show_on_front' ) && get_option( 'page_for_posts' ) == get_option( 'page_on_front' ) ) : ?>
 <div id="front-page-warning" class="error inline"><p><?php _e( '<strong>Warning:</strong> these pages should not be the same!' ); ?></p></div>
diff --git a/wp-includes/formatting.php b/wp-includes/formatting.php
index fe3a3e967..0004673c6 100644
--- a/wp-includes/formatting.php
+++ b/wp-includes/formatting.php
@@ -2402,6 +2402,7 @@ function sanitize_option($option, $value) {
 		case 'mailserver_port':
 		case 'comment_max_links':
 		case 'page_on_front':
+		case 'page_for_posts':
 		case 'rss_excerpt_length':
 		case 'default_category':
 		case 'default_email_category':
diff --git a/wp-includes/general-template.php b/wp-includes/general-template.php
index 6baf7b902..b3712425d 100644
--- a/wp-includes/general-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/general-template.php
@@ -585,7 +585,7 @@ function wp_title($sep = '&raquo;', $display = true, $seplocation = '') {
 	// If there is a post
 	if ( is_single() || ( is_home() && !is_front_page() ) || ( is_page() && !is_front_page() ) ) {
 		$post = $wp_query->get_queried_object();
-		$title = apply_filters( 'single_post_title', empty( $post->post_title ) ? '' : $post->post_title );
+		$title = apply_filters( 'single_post_title', $post->post_title );
 	}
 
 	// If there's a taxonomy