diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/Form/MenuLinkDefaultForm.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/Form/MenuLinkDefaultForm.php
index 95278ec..61df197 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/Form/MenuLinkDefaultForm.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/Form/MenuLinkDefaultForm.php
@@ -125,21 +125,11 @@ public function buildConfigurationForm(array $form, array &$form_state) {
       '#description' => $this->t('Optional. In the menu, the links with high weight will sink and links with a low weight will be positioned nearer the top.'),
     );
 
-    $options = $this->menuTree->getParentSelectOptions($this->menuLink->getPluginId());
     $menu_parent = $this->menuLink->getMenuName() . ':' . $this->menuLink->getParent();
-
-    if (!isset($options[$menu_parent])) {
-      // Put it at the top level in the current menu.
-      $menu_parent = $this->menuLink->getMenuName() . ':';
-    }
-    $form['menu_parent'] = array(
-      '#type' => 'select',
-      '#title' => $this->t('Parent link'),
-      '#options' => $options,
-      '#default_value' => $menu_parent,
-      '#description' => $this->t('The maximum depth for a link and all its children is fixed at !maxdepth. Some menu links may not be available as parents if selecting them would exceed this limit.', array('!maxdepth' => $this->menuTree->maxDepth())),
-      '#attributes' => array('class' => array('menu-title-select')),
-    );
+    $form['menu_parent'] = $this->menuTree->parentSelectElement($menu_parent, $this->menuLink->getPluginId());
+    $form['menu_parent']['#title'] = $this->t('Parent link');
+    $form['menu_parent']['#description'] = $this->t('The maximum depth for a link and all its children is fixed at !maxdepth. Some menu links may not be available as parents if selecting them would exceed this limit.', array('!maxdepth' => $this->menuTree->maxDepth()));
+    $form['menu_parent']['#attributes']['class'][] = 'menu-title-select';
 
     return $form;
   }
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/MenuLinkTree.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/MenuLinkTree.php
index 3604886..3dd424a 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/MenuLinkTree.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/MenuLinkTree.php
@@ -1069,6 +1069,29 @@ public function getParentSelectOptions($id = '', array $menus = array()) {
   /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
+  public function parentSelectElement($menu_parent, $id = '', array $menus = array()) {
+    $options = $this->getParentSelectOptions($id, $menus);
+    // If no options were found, there is nothing to select.
+    if ($options) {
+      if (!isset($options[$menu_parent])) {
+        // Try putting it at the top level in the current menu.
+        list($menu_name, $parent) = explode(':', $menu_parent, 2);
+        $menu_parent = $menu_name . ':';
+      }
+      if (isset($options[$menu_parent])) {
+        return array(
+          '#type' => 'select',
+          '#options' => $options,
+          '#default_value' => $menu_parent,
+        );
+      }
+    }
+    return array();
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
   public function getParentDepthLimit($id) {
     if ($id) {
       $limit = $this->treeStorage->maxDepth() - $this->treeStorage->getSubtreeHeight($id);
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/MenuLinkTreeInterface.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/MenuLinkTreeInterface.php
index 4d9e415..0910717 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/MenuLinkTreeInterface.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Menu/MenuLinkTreeInterface.php
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ public function updateLink($id, array $new_definition_values, $persist = TRUE);
   public function resetLink($id);
 
   /**
-   * Gets the options for a select element to choose and menu and parent.
+   * Gets the options for a select element to choose a menu and parent.
    *
    * @param string $id
    *   Optional ID of a link plugin. This will exclude the link and its
@@ -345,6 +345,31 @@ public function resetLink($id);
   public function getParentSelectOptions($id = '', array $menus = array());
 
   /**
+   * Get a form element to choose a menu and parent.
+   *
+   * The specific type of form element will vary depending on the
+   * implementation, but callers will normally need to set the #title for the
+   * element.
+   *
+   * @param string $menu_parent
+   *   A menu name and parent ID concatenated with a ':' character to use as the
+   *   default value.
+   * @param string $id
+   *   Optional ID of a link plugin. This will exclude the link and its
+   *   children from being selected.
+   * @param array $menus
+   *   Optional array of menu names as keys and titles as values to limit
+   *   the values that may be selected.
+   *
+   * @return array
+   *   A form element to choose a parent, or an empty array if no possible
+   *   parents exist for the given parameters. The resulting form value will be
+   *   a single string containing the chosen menu name and parent ID separated
+   *   by a ':' character.
+   */
+  public function parentSelectElement($menu_parent, $id = '', array $menus = array());
+
+  /**
    * Gets a list of menu names for use as options.
    *
    * @param array $menu_names
diff --git a/core/modules/menu_link_content/src/Form/MenuLinkContentForm.php b/core/modules/menu_link_content/src/Form/MenuLinkContentForm.php
index 5dc37fe..44e75e7 100644
--- a/core/modules/menu_link_content/src/Form/MenuLinkContentForm.php
+++ b/core/modules/menu_link_content/src/Form/MenuLinkContentForm.php
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ public function buildEditForm(array &$form, array &$form_state) {
 
     return $this->form($form, $form_state);
   }
+
   /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
@@ -302,22 +303,11 @@ public function form(array $form, array &$form_state) {
       '#default_value' => $default_value,
       '#required' => TRUE,
     );
-
-    $options = $this->menuTree->getParentSelectOptions($this->entity->getPluginId());
-    $menu_parent = $this->entity->getMenuName() . ':' . $this->entity->getParentId();
-
-    if (!isset($options[$menu_parent])) {
-      // Put it at the top level in the current menu.
-      $menu_parent = $this->entity->getMenuName() . ':';
-    }
-    $form['menu_parent'] = array(
-      '#type' => 'select',
-      '#title' => $this->t('Parent link'),
-      '#options' => $options,
-      '#default_value' => $menu_parent,
-      '#description' => $this->t('The maximum depth for a link and all its children is fixed at !maxdepth. Some menu links may not be available as parents if selecting them would exceed this limit.', array('!maxdepth' => $this->menuTree->maxDepth())),
-      '#attributes' => array('class' => array('menu-title-select')),
-    );
+    $default = $this->entity->getMenuName() . ':' . $this->entity->getParentId();
+    $form['menu_parent'] = $this->menuTree->parentSelectElement($default, $this->entity->getPluginId());
+    $form['menu_parent']['#title'] = $this->t('Parent link');
+    $form['menu_parent']['#description'] = $this->t('The maximum depth for a link and all its children is fixed at !maxdepth. Some menu links may not be available as parents if selecting them would exceed this limit.', array('!maxdepth' => $this->menuTree->maxDepth()));
+    $form['menu_parent']['#attributes']['class'][] = 'menu-title-select';
 
     return $form;
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/menu_ui/menu_ui.module b/core/modules/menu_ui/menu_ui.module
index 0ca4ac1..ca35d99 100644
--- a/core/modules/menu_ui/menu_ui.module
+++ b/core/modules/menu_ui/menu_ui.module
@@ -363,9 +363,15 @@ function menu_ui_form_node_form_alter(&$form, $form_state) {
   foreach ($type_menus as $menu) {
     $available_menus[$menu] = $menu_names[$menu];
   }
-  $options = !$available_menus ? FALSE : $link_tree->getParentSelectOptions($definition['id'], $available_menus);
+  if ($definition['id']) {
+    $default = $definition['menu_name'] . ':' . $definition['parent'];
+  }
+  else {
+    $default = \Drupal::config('menu.entity.node.'.$type)->get('parent');
+  }
+  $parent_element = $this->menuTree->parentSelectElement($default,  $definition['id'], $available_menus);
   // If no possible parent menu items were found, there is nothing to display.
-  if (empty($options)) {
+  if (empty($parent_element)) {
     return;
   }
 
@@ -416,27 +422,9 @@ function menu_ui_form_node_form_alter(&$form, $form_state) {
     '#description' => t('Shown when hovering over the menu link.'),
   );
 
-  if ($definition['id']) {
-    $default = $definition['menu_name'] . ':' . $definition['parent'];
-  }
-  else {
-    $default = \Drupal::config('menu.entity.node.'.$type)->get('parent');
-  }
-  // If the current parent menu item is not present in options, use the first
-  // available option as default value.
-  // @todo User should not be allowed to access menu link settings in such a
-  // case.
-  if (!isset($options[$default])) {
-    $array = array_keys($options);
-    $default = reset($array);
-  }
-  $form['menu']['link']['menu_parent'] = array(
-    '#type' => 'select',
-    '#title' => t('Parent item'),
-    '#default_value' => $default,
-    '#options' => $options,
-    '#attributes' => array('class' => array('menu-parent-select')),
-  );
+  $form['menu']['link']['menu_parent'] = $parent_element;
+  $form['menu']['link']['menu_parent']['#title'] = t('Parent item');
+  $form['menu']['link']['menu_parent']['#attributes']['class'][] = 'menu-parent-select';
 
   // Get number of items in menu so the weight selector is sized appropriately.
   $delta = $link_tree->countMenuLinks($definition['menu_name']);
@@ -523,7 +511,7 @@ function menu_ui_form_node_type_form_alter(&$form, $form_state) {
   // To avoid an 'illegal option' error after saving the form we have to load
   // all available menu items.
   // Otherwise it is not possible to dynamically add options to the list.
-  // @todo Convert menu_ui_parent_options() into a #process callback.
+  // @todo Convert getParentSelectOptions() into a #process callback.
   $options = $link_tree->getParentSelectOptions('');
   $form['menu']['menu_parent'] = array(
     '#type' => 'select',