diff --git a/includes/admin/class-wc-admin-profile.php b/includes/admin/class-wc-admin-profile.php
index 4dca081edfe..59cc3f09a38 100644
--- a/includes/admin/class-wc-admin-profile.php
+++ b/includes/admin/class-wc-admin-profile.php
@@ -268,7 +268,14 @@ class WC_Admin_Profile {
 				// permissions
 				if ( empty( $user->woocommerce_api_key_permissions ) ) {
 
-					$permissions = ( isset( $_POST['woocommerce_api_key_permissions'] ) && ! in_array( $_POST['woocommerce_api_key_permissions'], array( 'read', 'write', 'read_write' ) ) ) ? 'read' : $_POST['woocommerce_api_key_permissions'];
+					if ( isset( $_POST['woocommerce_api_key_permissions'] ) ) {
+
+						$permissions = ( in_array( $_POST['woocommerce_api_key_permissions'], array( 'read', 'write', 'read_write' ) ) ) ? $_POST['woocommerce_api_key_permissions'] : 'read';
+
+					} else {
+
+						$permissions = 'read';
+					}
 
 					update_user_meta( $user_id, 'woocommerce_api_key_permissions', $permissions );