diff --git a/app/views/issues/new.js.erb b/app/views/issues/new.js.erb
index a7e8cf88b..1158df581 100644
--- a/app/views/issues/new.js.erb
+++ b/app/views/issues/new.js.erb
@@ -4,7 +4,10 @@ replaceIssueFormWith('<%= escape_javascript(render :partial => 'form') %>');
   $("#watchers_form_container").html(
     '<%= escape_javascript(render :partial => 'issues/watchers_form') %>');
 <% when "issue_category_id" %>
-  $('#issue_assigned_to_id').find('option').first().html(
-    '<%= escape_javascript(
-           @issue.category.try(:assigned_to).try(:name)).presence || '&nbsp;'.html_safe %>');
+  $('#issue_assigned_to_id').find('option').first()
+    // Browsers prefer option[label] over inner text, so remove the blank label.
+    .removeAttr('label')
+    .html(
+      '<%= escape_javascript(
+        @issue.category.try(:assigned_to).try(:name)).presence || '&nbsp;'.html_safe %>');
 <% end %>