For me:
This happens if I place stairs in any world created in or before 15w33c (in the screenshots, it's a 1.8.1 world I haven't touched in any way since Jan 15).
In a world created in 15w35b, placing stairs near where I spawned had them still there when I re-logged.
1.8.1 world loaded in 15w35b. Placed stairs (first screenshot). Saved and quit, relogged, have black squares there (second screenshot). I can place blocks in those spots.
This seems to be fixed in 15w35b.
I'm not sure how to close/resolve this issue.
@Dominik's comment made me curious so I dug into the region file. When a stair or door (I just tested oak for both) get placed (any orientation), the following gets written out to the chunk:
Block: 0xFF
Data: 0xF
Add: 0xF
Since "Add" makes the block id = ((add_value << 8) + block_value), that'd have mcedit showing 4095 I think. (At least this is my understanding from the wiki).