diff --git a/src/wp-admin/includes/schema.php b/src/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
index a9978bc3b3..5a04ce4750 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
@@ -401,8 +401,7 @@ function populate_options( array $options = array() ) {
 		'siteurl'                         => $guessurl,
 		'home'                            => $guessurl,
 		'blogname'                        => __( 'My Site' ),
-		/* translators: Site tagline. */
-		'blogdescription'                 => __( 'Just another WordPress site' ),
+		'blogdescription'                 => '',
 		'users_can_register'              => 0,
 		'admin_email'                     => 'you@example.com',
 		/* translators: Default start of the week. 0 = Sunday, 1 = Monday. */
@@ -555,8 +554,6 @@ function populate_options( array $options = array() ) {
 
 	// 3.0.0 multisite.
 	if ( is_multisite() ) {
-		/* translators: %s: Network title. */
-		$defaults['blogdescription']     = sprintf( __( 'Just another %s site' ), get_network()->site_name );
 		$defaults['permalink_structure'] = '/%year%/%monthnum%/%day%/%postname%/';
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/wp-admin/options-general.php b/src/wp-admin/options-general.php
index 20c83fb1d8..5834c8a9d7 100644
--- a/src/wp-admin/options-general.php
+++ b/src/wp-admin/options-general.php
@@ -66,9 +66,17 @@ require_once ABSPATH . 'wp-admin/admin-header.php';
 <td><input name="blogname" type="text" id="blogname" value="<?php form_option( 'blogname' ); ?>" class="regular-text" /></td>
 </tr>
 
+<?php
+/* translators: Site tagline. */
+$sample_tagline = __( 'Just another WordPress site' );
+if ( is_multisite() ) {
+	/* translators: %s: Network title. */
+	$sample_tagline = sprintf( __( 'Just another %s site' ), get_network()->site_name );
+}
+?>
 <tr>
 <th scope="row"><label for="blogdescription"><?php _e( 'Tagline' ); ?></label></th>
-<td><input name="blogdescription" type="text" id="blogdescription" aria-describedby="tagline-description" value="<?php form_option( 'blogdescription' ); ?>" class="regular-text" />
+<td><input name="blogdescription" type="text" id="blogdescription" aria-describedby="tagline-description" value="<?php form_option( 'blogdescription' ); ?>" class="regular-text" placeholder="<?php echo $sample_tagline; ?>" />
 <p class="description" id="tagline-description"><?php _e( 'In a few words, explain what this site is about.' ); ?></p></td>
 </tr>
 
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/feed/atom.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/feed/atom.php
index 7b9ca4c405..4b965d49dd 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/feed/atom.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/feed/atom.php
@@ -51,6 +51,9 @@ class Tests_Feed_Atom extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 			wp_set_object_terms( $post, self::$category->slug, 'category' );
 		}
 
+		// Assign a tagline option.
+		update_option( 'blogdescription', 'Just another WordPress site' );
+
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -63,6 +66,13 @@ class Tests_Feed_Atom extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		$this->excerpt_only = get_option( 'rss_use_excerpt' );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Tear down.
+	 */
+	public static function wpTearDownAfterClass() {
+		delete_option( 'blogdescription' );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * This is a bit of a hack used to buffer feed content.
 	 */
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/feed/rss2.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/feed/rss2.php
index dcee021b0b..e365c62446 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/feed/rss2.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/feed/rss2.php
@@ -58,6 +58,10 @@ class Tests_Feed_RSS2 extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		foreach ( self::$posts as $post ) {
 			wp_set_object_terms( $post, self::$category->slug, 'category' );
 		}
+
+		// Assign a tagline option.
+		update_option( 'blogdescription', 'Just another WordPress site' );
+
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -75,6 +79,13 @@ class Tests_Feed_RSS2 extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		create_initial_taxonomies();
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Tear down.
+	 */
+	public static function wpTearDownAfterClass() {
+		delete_option( 'blogdescription' );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * This is a bit of a hack used to buffer feed content.
 	 */
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/general/wpGetDocumentTitle.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/general/wpGetDocumentTitle.php
index 08d9e033f3..b7b82c7093 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/general/wpGetDocumentTitle.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/general/wpGetDocumentTitle.php
@@ -60,6 +60,18 @@ class Tests_General_wpGetDocumentTitle extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 	public function test__wp_render_title_tag() {
 		$this->go_to( '/' );
 
+		$this->expectOutputString( sprintf( "<title>%s</title>\n", $this->blog_name ) );
+		_wp_render_title_tag();
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 6479
+	 */
+	public function test__wp_render_title_tag_with_blog_description() {
+		$this->go_to( '/' );
+
+		update_option( 'blogdescription', 'A blog description' );
+
 		$this->expectOutputString( sprintf( "<title>%s &#8211; %s</title>\n", $this->blog_name, get_option( 'blogdescription' ) ) );
 		_wp_render_title_tag();
 	}
@@ -99,12 +111,12 @@ class Tests_General_wpGetDocumentTitle extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		add_filter( 'document_title_parts', array( $this, 'front_page_title_parts' ) );
 
 		$this->go_to( '/' );
-		$this->assertSame( sprintf( '%s &#8211; Just another WordPress site', $this->blog_name ), wp_get_document_title() );
+		$this->assertSame( sprintf( '%s', $this->blog_name ), wp_get_document_title() );
 
 		update_option( 'show_on_front', 'posts' );
 
 		$this->go_to( '/' );
-		$this->assertSame( sprintf( '%s &#8211; Just another WordPress site', $this->blog_name ), wp_get_document_title() );
+		$this->assertSame( sprintf( '%s', $this->blog_name ), wp_get_document_title() );
 	}
 
 	public function front_page_title_parts( $parts ) {
@@ -135,7 +147,7 @@ class Tests_General_wpGetDocumentTitle extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 
 		add_filter( 'document_title_parts', array( $this, 'paged_title_parts' ) );
 
-		$this->assertSame( sprintf( '%s &#8211; Page 4 &#8211; Just another WordPress site', $this->blog_name ), wp_get_document_title() );
+		$this->assertSame( sprintf( '%s &#8211; Page 4', $this->blog_name ), wp_get_document_title() );
 	}
 
 	public function paged_title_parts( $parts ) {
diff --git a/tests/qunit/fixtures/wp-api-generated.js b/tests/qunit/fixtures/wp-api-generated.js
index 485746dbc2..e8b4290577 100644
--- a/tests/qunit/fixtures/wp-api-generated.js
+++ b/tests/qunit/fixtures/wp-api-generated.js
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ var mockedApiResponse = {};
 
 mockedApiResponse.Schema = {
     "name": "Test Blog",
-    "description": "Just another WordPress site",
+    "description": "",
     "url": "http://example.org",
     "home": "http://example.org",
     "gmt_offset": "0",
@@ -12286,7 +12286,7 @@ mockedApiResponse.CommentModel = {
 
 mockedApiResponse.settings = {
     "title": "Test Blog",
-    "description": "Just another WordPress site",
+    "description": "",
     "url": "http://example.org",
     "email": "admin@example.org",
     "timezone": "",