diff --git a/wp-includes/comment-functions.php b/wp-includes/comment-functions.php
index 1f8f54f92a..f0807b1763 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment-functions.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment-functions.php
@@ -2376,6 +2376,30 @@ function update_comment_cache( $comments, $update_meta_cache = true ) {
 	}
 }
 
+/**
+ * Lazy load comment meta when inside of a `WP_Query` loop.
+ *
+ * @since 4.4.0
+ *
+ * @param null $check      The `$check` param passed from the 'pre_comment_metadata' hook.
+ * @param int  $comment_id ID of the comment whose metadata is being cached.
+ * @return null In order not to short-circuit `get_metadata()`.
+ */
+function wp_lazyload_comment_meta( $check, $comment_id ) {
+	global $wp_query;
+
+	if ( ! empty( $wp_query->comments ) ) {
+		// Don't use `wp_list_pluck()` to avoid by-reference manipulation.
+		$comment_ids = array();
+		foreach ( $wp_query->comments as $comment ) {
+			$comment_ids[] = $comment->comment_ID;
+		}
+		update_meta_cache( 'comment', $comment_ids );
+	}
+
+	return $check;
+}
+
 //
 // Internal
 //
diff --git a/wp-includes/comment-template.php b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
index 016b515d78..af375c533f 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
@@ -1211,6 +1211,7 @@ function comments_template( $file = '/comments.php', $separate_comments = false
 		'orderby' => 'comment_date_gmt',
 		'status'  => 'approve',
 		'post_id' => $post->ID,
+		'update_comment_meta_cache' => false, // We lazy-load comment meta for performance.
 	);
 
 	if ( $user_ID ) {
diff --git a/wp-includes/default-filters.php b/wp-includes/default-filters.php
index f9fd9c47c9..e9ddc47161 100644
--- a/wp-includes/default-filters.php
+++ b/wp-includes/default-filters.php
@@ -200,6 +200,7 @@ add_filter( 'nav_menu_meta_box_object', '_wp_nav_menu_meta_box_object'        );
 add_filter( 'pingback_ping_source_uri', 'pingback_ping_source_uri'            );
 add_filter( 'xmlrpc_pingback_error',    'xmlrpc_pingback_error'               );
 add_filter( 'title_save_pre',           'trim'                                );
+add_filter( 'get_comment_metadata',     'wp_lazyload_comment_meta',     10, 2 );
 
 add_filter( 'http_request_host_is_external', 'allowed_http_request_hosts', 10, 2 );
 
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index 8481f682f7..36253fb146 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '4.4-alpha-34269';
+$wp_version = '4.4-alpha-34270';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.