diff --git a/wp-includes/comment-template.php b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
index 41b1133573..9bd0596581 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
@@ -1112,15 +1112,21 @@ function comments_template( $file = '/comments.php', $separate_comments = false
 	 */
 	$comment_author_url = esc_url($commenter['comment_author_url']);
 
-	/** @todo Use API instead of SELECTs. */
-	if ( $user_ID) {
-		$comments = $wpdb->get_results($wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_post_ID = %d AND (comment_approved = '1' OR ( user_id = %d AND comment_approved = '0' ) )  ORDER BY comment_date_gmt", $post->ID, $user_ID));
-	} else if ( empty($comment_author) ) {
-		$comments = get_comments( array('post_id' => $post->ID, 'status' => 'approve', 'order' => 'ASC') );
-	} else {
-		$comments = $wpdb->get_results($wpdb->prepare("SELECT * FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_post_ID = %d AND ( comment_approved = '1' OR ( comment_author = %s AND comment_author_email = %s AND comment_approved = '0' ) ) ORDER BY comment_date_gmt", $post->ID, wp_specialchars_decode($comment_author,ENT_QUOTES), $comment_author_email));
+	$comment_args = array(
+		'order'   => 'ASC',
+		'orderby' => 'comment_date_gmt',
+		'status'  => 'approve',
+		'post_id' => $post->ID,
+	);
+
+	if ( $user_ID ) {
+		$comment_args['include_unapproved'] = array( $user_ID );
+	} else if ( ! empty( $comment_author ) ) {
+		$comment_args['include_unapproved'] = array( $comment_author_email );
 	}
 
+	$comments = get_comments( $comment_args );
+
 	/**
 	 * Filter the comments array.
 	 *
diff --git a/wp-includes/comment.php b/wp-includes/comment.php
index c84ecc2320..f3746750a2 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment.php
@@ -259,7 +259,7 @@ class WP_Comment_Query {
 	 * @since 3.1.0
 	 * @since 4.1.0 Introduced 'comment__in', 'comment__not_in', 'post_author__in',
 	 *              'post_author__not_in', 'author__in', 'author__not_in',
-	 *              'post__in', and 'post__not_in' to $query_vars.
+	 *              'post__in', 'post__not_in', and 'include_unapproved' to $query_vars.
 	 *
 	 * @param string|array $query_vars
 	 * @return int|array
@@ -271,6 +271,7 @@ class WP_Comment_Query {
 			'author_email' => '',
 			'author__in' => '',
 			'author__not_in' => '',
+			'include_unapproved' => '',
 			'fields' => '',
 			'ID' => '',
 			'comment__in' => '',
@@ -333,16 +334,48 @@ class WP_Comment_Query {
 			return $cache;
 		}
 
+		// Assemble clauses related to 'comment_approved'.
+		$approved_clauses = array();
 		$status = $this->query_vars['status'];
 		if ( 'hold' == $status ) {
-			$approved = "comment_approved = '0'";
+			$approved_clauses[] = "comment_approved = '0'";
 		} elseif ( 'approve' == $status ) {
-			$approved = "comment_approved = '1'";
+			$approved_clauses[] = "comment_approved = '1'";
 		} elseif ( ! empty( $status ) && 'all' != $status ) {
-			$approved = $wpdb->prepare( "comment_approved = %s", $status );
+			$approved_clauses[] = $wpdb->prepare( "comment_approved = %s", $status );
 		} else {
-			$approved = "( comment_approved = '0' OR comment_approved = '1' )";
+			$approved_clauses[] = "( comment_approved = '0' OR comment_approved = '1' )";
 		}
+
+		// User IDs or emails whose unapproved comments are included, regardless of $status.
+		if ( ! empty( $this->query_vars['include_unapproved'] ) ) {
+			$include_unapproved = $this->query_vars['include_unapproved'];
+
+			// Accepts arrays or comma-separated strings.
+			if ( ! is_array( $include_unapproved ) ) {
+				$include_unapproved = preg_split( '/[\s,]+/', $include_unapproved );
+			}
+
+			$unapproved_ids = $unapproved_emails = array();
+			foreach ( $include_unapproved as $unapproved_identifier ) {
+				// Numeric values are assumed to be user ids.
+				if ( is_numeric( $unapproved_identifier ) ) {
+					$approved_clauses[] = $wpdb->prepare( "( user_id = %d AND comment_approved = '0' )", $unapproved_identifier );
+
+				// Otherwise we match against email addresses.
+				} else {
+					$approved_clauses[] = $wpdb->prepare( "( comment_author_email = %s AND comment_approved = '0' )", $unapproved_identifier );
+				}
+			}
+		}
+
+		// Collapse comment_approved clauses into a single OR-separated clause.
+		if ( 1 === count( $approved_clauses ) ) {
+			$approved = $approved_clauses[0];
+		} else {
+			$approved = '( ' . implode( ' OR ', $approved_clauses ) . ' )';
+		}
+
 		$order = ( 'ASC' == strtoupper( $this->query_vars['order'] ) ) ? 'ASC' : 'DESC';
 
 		if ( ! empty( $this->query_vars['orderby'] ) ) {