Issue is reproducible with the following markup: ASPX: <telerik:RadFormDecorator ID="RadFormDecorator1" runat="server" DecoratedControls="All" RenderMode="Lightweight" /> <select> <option>option 1</option> <option selected="selected"></option> </select> For the time being the following JavaScript workaround can be placed below the RadFormDecorators' declaration: <telerik:RadFormDecorator ID="RadFormDecorator1" runat="server" DecoratedControls="All" RenderMode="Lightweight" /> <script> Telerik.Web.UI.FormDecorator.LightWeightDomDecorator.prototype.setSelectHeaderText = function (decoratedSelectHeader, text, isDropDown) { if (isDropDown) { decoratedSelectHeader.innerHTML = ""; var span = this._createArrowSpan(); decoratedSelectHeader.appendChild(span); decoratedSelectHeader.appendChild(document.createTextNode(text)); } else { var innerElement = $telerik.getElementByClassName(decoratedSelectHeader, "rfdSelectText"); if (text) text = text.replace(/</g, "<"); if (innerElement) innerElement.innerHTML = text; } } </script>