diff --git a/libraries/joomla/table/user.php b/libraries/joomla/table/user.php
index 4f9c97b3ee22d..28e913742d1f3 100644
--- a/libraries/joomla/table/user.php
+++ b/libraries/joomla/table/user.php
@@ -321,24 +321,55 @@ public function store($updateNulls = false)
 		// Store the group data if the user data was saved.
 		if (is_array($this->groups) && count($this->groups))
 		{
-			// Delete the old user group maps.
-			$query->delete($this->_db->quoteName('#__user_usergroup_map'))
-				->where($this->_db->quoteName('user_id') . ' = ' . (int) $this->id);
+			// Grab all usergroup entries for the user
+			$query -> clear()
+				-> select('*')
+				-> from($this->_db->quoteName('#__user_usergroup_map'))
+				-> where($this->_db->quoteName('user_id') . ' = ' . (int) $this->id);
+
 			$this->_db->setQuery($query);
-			$this->_db->execute();
+			$result = $this->_db->loadObjectList();
 
-			// Set the new user group maps.
-			$query->clear()
-				->insert($this->_db->quoteName('#__user_usergroup_map'))
-				->columns(array($this->_db->quoteName('user_id'), $this->_db->quoteName('group_id')));
+			// Loop through them and check if database contains something $this->groups does not
+			if (count($result))
+			{
+				foreach ($result as $map)
+				{
+					if (array_key_exists($map->group_id, $this->groups))
+					{
+						// It already exists, no action required
+						unset($this->groups[$map->group_id]);
+					}
+					else
+					{
+						// It should be removed
+						$query -> clear()
+							-> delete($this->_db->quoteName('#__user_usergroup_map'))
+							-> where($this->_db->quoteName('user_id') . ' = ' . (int) $this->id)
+							-> where($this->_db->quoteName('group_id') . ' = ' . (int) $map->group_id);
+
+						$this->_db->setQuery($query);
+						$this->_db->execute();
+					}
+				}
+			}
 
-			// Have to break this up into individual queries for cross-database support.
-			foreach ($this->groups as $group)
+			// If there is anything left in this->groups it needs to be inserted
+			if (count($this->groups))
 			{
-				$query->clear('values')
-					->values($this->id . ', ' . $group);
-				$this->_db->setQuery($query);
-				$this->_db->execute();
+				// Set the new user group maps.
+				$query->clear()
+					->insert($this->_db->quoteName('#__user_usergroup_map'))
+					->columns(array($this->_db->quoteName('user_id'), $this->_db->quoteName('group_id')));
+
+				// Have to break this up into individual queries for cross-database support.
+				foreach ($this->groups as $group)
+				{
+					$query->clear('values')
+						->values($this->id . ', ' . $group);
+					$this->_db->setQuery($query);
+					$this->_db->execute();
+				}
 			}
 		}