diff --git a/user/selector/module.js b/user/selector/module.js
index d1094a0b766..24daf821b49 100644
--- a/user/selector/module.js
+++ b/user/selector/module.js
@@ -221,8 +221,9 @@ M.core_user.init_user_selector = function (Y, name, hash, extrafields, lastsearc
 
             // Output each optgroup.
             var count = 0;
-            for (var groupname in data.results) {
-                this.output_group(groupname, data.results[groupname], selectedusers, true);
+            for (var key in data.results) {
+                var groupdata = data.results[key];
+                this.output_group(groupdata.name, groupdata.users, selectedusers, true);
                 count++;
             }
             if (!count) {
@@ -248,14 +249,14 @@ M.core_user.init_user_selector = function (Y, name, hash, extrafields, lastsearc
         output_group : function(groupname, users, selectedusers, processsingle) {
             var optgroup = Y.Node.create('<optgroup></optgroup>');
             var count = 0;
-            for (var userid in users) {
-                var user = users[userid];
-                var option = Y.Node.create('<option value="'+userid+'">'+user.name+'</option>');
+            for (var key in users) {
+                var user = users[key];
+                var option = Y.Node.create('<option value="'+user.id+'">'+user.name+'</option>');
                 if (user.disabled) {
                     option.set('disabled', true);
-                } else if (selectedusers===true || selectedusers[userid]) {
+                } else if (selectedusers===true || selectedusers[user.id]) {
                     option.set('selected', true);
-                    delete selectedusers[userid];
+                    delete selectedusers[user.id];
                 } else {
                     option.set('selected', false);
                 }
diff --git a/user/selector/search.php b/user/selector/search.php
index a4f45e4db92..a7b8d9cb9ec 100644
--- a/user/selector/search.php
+++ b/user/selector/search.php
@@ -78,9 +78,11 @@ if (isset($options['file'])) {
 $userselector = new $classname($name, $options);
 
 // Do the search and output the results.
-$users = $userselector->find_users($search);
-foreach ($users as &$group) {
-    foreach ($group as $user) {
+$results = $userselector->find_users($search);
+$json = array();
+foreach ($results as $groupname => $users) {
+    $groupdata = array('name' => $groupname, 'users' => array());
+    foreach ($users as $user) {
         $output = new stdClass;
         $output->id = $user->id;
         $output->name = $userselector->output_user($user);
@@ -90,8 +92,9 @@ foreach ($users as &$group) {
         if (!empty($user->infobelow)) {
             $output->infobelow = $user->infobelow;
         }
-        $group[$user->id] = $output;
+        $groupdata['users'][] = $output;
     }
+    $json[] = $groupdata;
 }
 
-echo json_encode(array('results' => $users));
+echo json_encode(array('results' => $json));