diff --git a/app/views/users.py b/app/views/users.py
index 253ce5f8..df02f43b 100644
--- a/app/views/users.py
+++ b/app/views/users.py
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ def create_user_form(user_name=None, edit=0, all_roles=1):
     orig_roles_strings = {r.name + "_" + (dept or "") for (r, dept) in orig_roles}
     # add existing user roles
     displayed_roles = list(editable_roles_set.union(orig_roles))
-    displayed_roles.sort(key=lambda x: (x[1], x[0].name))
+    displayed_roles.sort(key=lambda x: (x[1] or "", x[0].name or ""))
     displayed_roles_strings = [
         r.name + "_" + (dept or "") for (r, dept) in displayed_roles
     ]