diff --git a/webapp/config/web.xml b/webapp/config/web.xml
index 4a2498d37..1fedd0894 100644
--- a/webapp/config/web.xml
+++ b/webapp/config/web.xml
@@ -129,11 +129,11 @@
     <listener-class> edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.auth.policy.setup.VivoPolicySetup</listener-class>
   </listener>
   
-	<listener>
+	<!--<listener>
 		<listener-class>
 	        edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.auth.policy.setup.SelfEditingPolicySetup
 		</listener-class>
-	</listener>
+	</listener>  -->
     
     <listener>
         <listener-class>
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/auth/policy/setup/SelfEditingPolicySetup.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/auth/policy/setup/SelfEditingPolicySetup.java
index d5977248d..95e13879c 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/auth/policy/setup/SelfEditingPolicySetup.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/auth/policy/setup/SelfEditingPolicySetup.java
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@ import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.dao.VitroVocabulary;
  */
 public class SelfEditingPolicySetup  implements ServletContextListener  {
     private static final Log log = LogFactory.getLog(SelfEditingPolicySetup.class.getName());
-   
+    public static final String SELF_EDITING_POLICY_WAS_SETUP= "selfEditingPolicyWasSetup";
+    
     public void contextInitialized(ServletContextEvent sce) {
         try{
             log.debug("Setting up SelfEditingPolicy");
@@ -60,7 +61,9 @@ public class SelfEditingPolicySetup  implements ServletContextListener  {
             
             SelfEditingIdentifierFactory niif =new SelfEditingIdentifierFactory();
             ServletIdentifierBundleFactory.addIdentifierBundleFactory(sce.getServletContext(), niif);
-
+            
+            sce.getServletContext().setAttribute(SELF_EDITING_POLICY_WAS_SETUP, Boolean.TRUE);
+            
             log.debug( "SelfEditingPolicy has been setup. " );            
         }catch(Exception e){
             log.error("could not run SelfEditingPolicySetup: " + e);
diff --git a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/edit/UserRetryController.java b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/edit/UserRetryController.java
index eff684bfb..c9dd7c815 100644
--- a/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/edit/UserRetryController.java
+++ b/webapp/src/edu/cornell/mannlib/vitro/webapp/controller/edit/UserRetryController.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@ import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.forwarder.PageForwarder;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.forwarder.impl.UrlForwarder;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vedit.util.FormUtils;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.auth.policy.JenaNetidPolicy.ContextSetup;
+import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.auth.policy.setup.SelfEditingPolicySetup;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.Portal;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.beans.User;
 import edu.cornell.mannlib.vitro.webapp.controller.Controllers;
@@ -114,23 +115,28 @@ public class UserRetryController extends BaseEditController {
         HashMap optionMap = new HashMap();
 
         LoginFormBean loginBean = (LoginFormBean) request.getSession().getAttribute("loginHandler");
+        List roleOptionList = new LinkedList();
         
-        /* has no impact on anything, so don't confuse by showing */
-        /* bdc34: Datastar needs non-backend-editing users for logging in non-Cornell people*/ 
+        /* bdc34: Datastar needs non-backend-editing users for logging in non-Cornell people*/
+        /* SelfEditingPolicySetup.SELF_EDITING_POLICY_WAS_SETUP is set by the SelfEditingPolicySetup context listener */
+        boolean selfEditing = (Boolean)getServletContext().getAttribute(SelfEditingPolicySetup.SELF_EDITING_POLICY_WAS_SETUP) == Boolean.TRUE;
         Option nonEditor = new Option(ROLE_PROTOCOL+loginBean.getNonEditor(), "self editor");
-        nonEditor.setSelected(userForEditing.getRoleURI().equals(nonEditor.getValue()));
+        /* self editing should be displayed if we are editing a user account that is already  
+         *  self-editing even if self editing is off. */
+        if( selfEditing || 
+        	( !"insert".equals(action) && userForEditing.getRoleURI().equals(nonEditor.getValue()) )){        	        	
+            nonEditor.setSelected(userForEditing.getRoleURI().equals(nonEditor.getValue()));
+            if (nonEditor.getSelected() || (Integer.decode(loginBean.getLoginRole()) >= loginBean.getNonEditor()))
+                roleOptionList.add(nonEditor); 
+        }
         
         Option editor = new Option(ROLE_PROTOCOL+loginBean.getEditor(), "editor");
         editor.setSelected(userForEditing.getRoleURI().equals(editor.getValue()));
         Option curator = new Option(ROLE_PROTOCOL+loginBean.getCurator(), "curator");
         curator.setSelected(userForEditing.getRoleURI().equals(curator.getValue()));
         Option administrator = new Option (ROLE_PROTOCOL+loginBean.getDba(), "system administrator");
-        administrator.setSelected(userForEditing.getRoleURI().equals(administrator.getValue()));
-
-        List roleOptionList = new LinkedList();
-
-        if (nonEditor.getSelected() || (Integer.decode(loginBean.getLoginRole()) >= loginBean.getNonEditor()))
-            roleOptionList.add(nonEditor); 
+        administrator.setSelected(userForEditing.getRoleURI().equals(administrator.getValue()));        
+        
         if (editor.getSelected() || (Integer.decode(loginBean.getLoginRole()) >= loginBean.getEditor()))
             roleOptionList.add(editor);
         if (curator.getSelected() || (Integer.decode(loginBean.getLoginRole()) >= loginBean.getCurator()))