diff --git a/phpBB/docs/CHANGELOG.html b/phpBB/docs/CHANGELOG.html
index 35f0459ebf..dfbca59523 100644
--- a/phpBB/docs/CHANGELOG.html
+++ b/phpBB/docs/CHANGELOG.html
@@ -243,6 +243,7 @@ p a {
 		<li>[Fix] Made the DBMS selection use language variables (Bug #11969)</li>
 		<li>[Fix] Make sure that a folder is used when viewing messages to oneself (Bug #12105)</li>
 		<li>[Fix] Account for the fact that a board might have no visible Admins (Bug #12185)</li>
+		<li>[Fix] Change group ranks even if empty (Bug #12231)</li>
 
 	</ul>
 
diff --git a/phpBB/includes/functions_user.php b/phpBB/includes/functions_user.php
index 2c733a9ebd..a1fd2c5555 100644
--- a/phpBB/includes/functions_user.php
+++ b/phpBB/includes/functions_user.php
@@ -2702,12 +2702,6 @@ function group_set_user_default($group_id, $user_id_ary, $group_attributes = fal
 				continue;
 			}
 
-			// Do not update the rank if it is set to "user default"
-			if (strpos($attribute, 'group_rank') === 0 && !$group_attributes[$attribute])
-			{
-				continue;
-			}
-
 			settype($group_attributes[$attribute], $type);
 			$sql_ary[str_replace('group_', 'user_', $attribute)] = $group_attributes[$attribute];
 		}