diff --git a/wp-admin/admin-functions.php b/wp-admin/admin-functions.php
index b8ac6a2dd..a50675029 100644
--- a/wp-admin/admin-functions.php
+++ b/wp-admin/admin-functions.php
@@ -462,6 +462,12 @@ function edit_user( $user_id = 0 ) {
 		$user->aim = wp_specialchars( trim( $_POST['aim'] ));
 	if ( isset( $_POST['yim'] ))
 		$user->yim = wp_specialchars( trim( $_POST['yim'] ));
+	if ( !$update )
+		$user->rich_editing = 'true';  // Default to true for new users.
+	else if ( isset( $_POST['rich_editing'] ) )
+		$user->rich_editing = $_POST['rich_editing'];
+	else
+		$user->rich_editing = 'false';
 
 	$errors = new WP_Error();
 
diff --git a/wp-admin/profile-update.php b/wp-admin/profile-update.php
index 8e5748419..c74621b48 100644
--- a/wp-admin/profile-update.php
+++ b/wp-admin/profile-update.php
@@ -17,12 +17,6 @@ if ( is_wp_error( $errors ) ) {
 	exit;
 }
 
-if ( rich_edit_exists() ) {
-	if ( !isset( $_POST['rich_editing'] ) )
-		$_POST['rich_editing'] = 'false';
-	update_user_option( $current_user->id, 'rich_editing', $_POST['rich_editing'], true );
-}
-
 do_action('personal_options_update');
 
 if ( 'profile' == $_POST['from'] )
diff --git a/wp-includes/registration.php b/wp-includes/registration.php
index 3186ff840..adcb6597c 100644
--- a/wp-includes/registration.php
+++ b/wp-includes/registration.php
@@ -79,6 +79,9 @@ function wp_insert_user($userdata) {
 		$description = '';
 	$description = apply_filters('pre_user_description', $description);
 
+	if ( empty($rich_editing) )
+		$rich_editing = 'true';
+
 	if ( empty($user_registered) )
 		$user_registered = gmdate('Y-m-d H:i:s');
 
@@ -104,6 +107,7 @@ function wp_insert_user($userdata) {
 	update_usermeta( $user_id, 'jabber', $jabber );
 	update_usermeta( $user_id, 'aim', $aim );
 	update_usermeta( $user_id, 'yim', $yim );
+	update_usermeta( $user_id, 'rich_editing', $rich_editing);
 
 	if ( $update && isset($role) ) {
 		$user = new WP_User($user_id);