diff --git a/tailbone/views/users.py b/tailbone/views/users.py
index fb81060a..e4182da9 100644
--- a/tailbone/views/users.py
+++ b/tailbone/views/users.py
@@ -612,14 +612,25 @@ class UserView(PrincipalMasterView):
             # display
             {'section': f'tailbone.{user.uuid}',
              'option': 'user_css',
-             'value': user_css},
+             'value': user_css,
+             'save_if_empty': False},
         ]
 
     def preferences_gather_settings(self, data, user):
         simple_settings = self.preferences_get_simple_settings(user)
-        return self.configure_gather_settings(
+        settings = self.configure_gather_settings(
             data, simple_settings=simple_settings, input_file_templates=False)
 
+        # TODO: ugh why does user_css come back as 'default' instead of None?
+        final_settings = []
+        for setting in settings:
+            if setting['name'].endswith('.user_css'):
+                if setting['value'] == 'default':
+                    continue
+            final_settings.append(setting)
+
+        return final_settings
+
     def preferences_remove_settings(self, user):
         app = self.get_rattail_app()
         simple_settings = self.preferences_get_simple_settings(user)