diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Field/Type/Field.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Field/Type/Field.php
index 1c2f4af8742b..e7a596045c6e 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Field/Type/Field.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Field/Type/Field.php
@@ -68,16 +68,12 @@ class Field extends TypedData implements IteratorAggregate, FieldInterface {
    *   An array of values of the field items.
    */
   public function setValue($values) {
-    // Support passing in only the value of the first item.
-    if (!is_array($values) || (!empty($values) && !is_numeric(current(array_keys($values))))) {
-      $values = array(0 => $values);
-    }
+    if (isset($values) && $values !== array()) {
+      // Support passing in only the value of the first item.
+      if (!is_array($values) || !is_numeric(current(array_keys($values)))) {
+        $values = array(0 => $values);
+      }
 
-    if (!is_array($values)) {
-      throw new InvalidArgumentException("An entity field requires a numerically indexed array of items as value.");
-    }
-
-    if (!empty($values)) {
       if (!is_array($values)) {
         throw new InvalidArgumentException("An entity field requires a numerically indexed array of items as value.");
       }
diff --git a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Entity/EntityFieldTest.php b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Entity/EntityFieldTest.php
index fa443f65013e..a152bfa43e9c 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Entity/EntityFieldTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Entity/EntityFieldTest.php
@@ -210,6 +210,16 @@ class EntityFieldTest extends WebTestBase  {
     $this->assertEqual(count(iterator_to_array($entity->name->getIterator())), count($entity->name), 'Count matches iterator count.');
     $this->assertTrue($entity->name->getValue() === array(0 => NULL), 'Name field value contains a NULL value.');
 
+    // Test removing all list items by assigning an empty array.
+    $entity->name = array();
+    $this->assertIdentical(count($entity->name), 0, 'Name field contains no items.');
+    $this->assertIdentical($entity->name->getValue(), array(), 'Name field value is an empty array.');
+
+    // Test removing all list items by setting it to NULL.
+    $entity->name = NULL;
+    $this->assertIdentical(count($entity->name), 0, 'Name field contains no items.');
+    $this->assertIdentical($entity->name->getValue(), array(), 'Name field value is an empty array.');
+
     // Test get and set field values.
     $entity->name = 'foo';
     $this->assertEqual($entity->name[0]->getPropertyValues(), array('value' => 'foo'), 'Field value has been retrieved via getPropertyValue()');
@@ -230,6 +240,15 @@ class EntityFieldTest extends WebTestBase  {
     ));
     $this->assertNotNull($entity->user_id->value, 'User id is not NULL');
     $this->assertIdentical($entity->user_id->value, 0, 'User id has been set to 0');
+
+    // Test setting the ID with the value only.
+    $entity = entity_create('entity_test', array(
+      'name' => $name_item,
+      'user_id' => 0,
+      'field_test_text' => $text_item,
+    ));
+    $this->assertNotNull($entity->user_id->value, 'User id is not NULL');
+    $this->assertIdentical($entity->user_id->value, 0, 'User id has been set to 0');
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Entity/EntityTranslationTest.php b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Entity/EntityTranslationTest.php
index 9c38fdaec192..e0b25fb759b4 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Entity/EntityTranslationTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Entity/EntityTranslationTest.php
@@ -171,15 +171,6 @@ class EntityTranslationTest extends WebTestBase {
     $entity->getTranslation($this->langcodes[1], FALSE)->set($field_name, array(0 => array('value' => 'default value2')));
     // Get the value.
     $this->assertEqual($entity->get($field_name)->value, 'default value2', 'Untranslated value set into a translation in non-strict mode.');
-
-    // Test setting the user_id to 0 using setValue method.
-    $entity = entity_create('entity_test', array(
-      'name' => 'test',
-      'user_id' => $GLOBALS['user']->uid,
-    ));
-    $translation = $entity->getTranslation($this->langcodes[1], FALSE);
-    $translation->user_id->setValue(0);
-    $this->assertIdentical($entity->get('user_id')->value, 0);
   }
 
   /**