if no icon is selected for a category icon will be empty string

public/src/forum/admin/categories.js

@@ -37,13 +37,17 @@ define(['uploader'], function(uploader) {
 		}
 
 		function select_icon(el) {
-			var selected = el.attr('class').replace(' fa-2x', '');
+			var selected = el.attr('class').replace('fa-2x', '').replace('fa', '').replace(/\s+/g, '');
 			$('#icons .selected').removeClass('selected');
+
+			if (selected === '') {
+				selected = 'fa-doesnt-exist';
+			}
 			if (selected) {
-				$('#icons .' + selected).parent().addClass('selected');
+				$('#icons .fa-icons .fa.' + selected).parent().addClass('selected');
 			}
 
-			bootbox.confirm('<h2>Select an icon.</h2>' + document.getElementById('icons').innerHTML, function(confirm) {
+			bootbox.confirm('<h2>Select an icon.</h2>' + $('#icons').html(), function(confirm) {
 				if (confirm) {
 					var iconClass = $('.bootbox .selected').children(':first').attr('class');
 
@@ -51,6 +55,9 @@ define(['uploader'], function(uploader) {
 
 					// remove the 'fa ' from the class name, just need the icon name itself
 					var categoryIconClass = iconClass.replace('fa ', '');
+					if(categoryIconClass === 'fa-doesnt-exist') {
+						categoryIconClass = '';
+					}
 					el.val(categoryIconClass);
 					el.attr('value', categoryIconClass);
 
@@ -122,7 +129,7 @@ define(['uploader'], function(uploader) {
 
 				ajaxify.loadTemplate('admin/categories', function(adminCategories) {
 					var html = $(templates.parse(templates.getBlock(adminCategories, 'categories'), {categories: [data]}));
-					
+
 					html.find('[data-name="bgColor"], [data-name="color"]').each(enableColorPicker);
 
 					$('#entry-container').append(html);

public/src/forum/unread.js

@@ -157,9 +157,18 @@ define(['forum/recent'], function(recent) {
 	}
 
 	function createCategoryLink(category) {
-		var link = $('<li role="presentation" class="category" data-cid="' + category.cid + '"><a role="menuitem" href="#"><i class="fa fa-fw ' + category.icon + '"></i> ' + category.name + '</a></li>');
 
-		$('.markread .dropdown-menu').append(link);
+		var link = $('<a role="menuitem" href="#"></a>');
+		if (category.icon) {
+			link.append('<i class="fa fa-fw ' + category.icon + '"></i> ' + category.name);
+		} else {
+			link.append(category.name);
+		}
+
+
+		$('<li role="presentation" class="category" data-cid="' + category.cid + '"></li>')
+			.append(link)
+			.appendTo($('.markread .dropdown-menu'));
 	}
 
 	return Unread;