create role r1; grant r1 to root@localhost; create user u1; set role r1; grant r1 to u1; select * from mysql.roles_mapping; Host User Role Admin_option % u1 r1 N localhost root r1 Y drop user u1; select * from mysql.roles_mapping; Host User Role Admin_option localhost root r1 Y show grants; Grants for root@localhost GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO `root`@`localhost` WITH GRANT OPTION GRANT PROXY ON ''@'%' TO 'root'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION GRANT USAGE ON *.* TO `r1` GRANT `r1` TO `root`@`localhost` WITH ADMIN OPTION drop role r1; select * from mysql.roles_mapping; Host User Role Admin_option show grants; Grants for root@localhost GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON *.* TO `root`@`localhost` WITH GRANT OPTION GRANT PROXY ON ''@'%' TO 'root'@'localhost' WITH GRANT OPTION