diff --git a/mechanize/_form.py b/mechanize/_form.py
index d45bdfc..11dd9a3 100644
--- a/mechanize/_form.py
+++ b/mechanize/_form.py
@@ -2333,7 +2333,13 @@ def __init__(self, type, name, attrs, index=None):
         # IE5 defaults SUBMIT value to "Submit Query"; Firebird 0.6 leaves it
         # blank, Konqueror 3.1 defaults to "Submit".  HTML spec. doesn't seem
         # to define this.
-        if self.value is None: self.value = ""
+        if self.value is None:
+            if self.disabled:
+                self.disabled = False
+                self.value = ""
+                self.disabled = True
+            else:
+                self.value = ""
         self.readonly = True
 
     def get_labels(self):