diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php b/wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php
index 475608efa7..476dc04ec2 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php
@@ -1612,8 +1612,8 @@ function upgrade_280() {
 		$start = 0;
 		while ( $rows = $wpdb->get_results( "SELECT option_name, option_value FROM $wpdb->options ORDER BY option_id LIMIT $start, 20" ) ) {
 			foreach ( $rows as $row ) {
-				$value = $row->option_value;
-				if ( ! @unserialize( $value ) ) {
+				$value = maybe_unserialize( $row->option_value );
+				if ( $value === $row->option_value ) {
 					$value = stripslashes( $value );
 				}
 				if ( $value !== $row->option_value ) {