diff --git a/sentry_sdk/scope.py b/sentry_sdk/scope.py
index cec5e767c3..ac8b876010 100644
--- a/sentry_sdk/scope.py
+++ b/sentry_sdk/scope.py
@@ -890,7 +890,14 @@ def user(self, value: "Optional[Dict[str, Any]]") -> None:
 
     def set_user(self, value: "Optional[Dict[str, Any]]") -> None:
         """Sets a user for the scope."""
-        self._user = value
+        if value is not None:
+            self._user = {}
+            for k, v in value.items():
+                if v is not None:
+                    self._user[k] = v
+        else:
+            self._user = None
+
         session = self.get_isolation_scope()._session
         if session is not None:
             session.update(user=value)
diff --git a/tests/test_scope.py b/tests/test_scope.py
index 39a162be18..684be5fb6e 100644
--- a/tests/test_scope.py
+++ b/tests/test_scope.py
@@ -68,6 +68,32 @@ def test_scope_flags_copy():
     ]
 
 
+def test_set_user(sentry_init, capture_events):
+    sentry_init()
+    events = capture_events()
+
+    sentry_sdk.get_isolation_scope().set_user({"id": "42", "email": "bob@example.com"})
+    capture_exception(NameError())
+    assert events[-1]["user"] == {"id": "42", "email": "bob@example.com"}
+
+    sentry_sdk.get_isolation_scope().set_user(None)
+    capture_exception(NameError())
+    assert "user" not in events[-1]
+
+
+def test_set_user_none_values_are_dropped_when_copying_to_attributes(
+    sentry_init, capture_events
+):
+    sentry_init()
+    events = capture_events()
+
+    sentry_sdk.get_isolation_scope().set_user(
+        {"email": "ada@beans.com", "username": None}
+    )
+    capture_exception(NameError())
+    assert events[-1]["user"] == {"email": "ada@beans.com"}
+
+
 def test_merging(sentry_init, capture_events):
     sentry_init()