diff --git a/wp-includes/deprecated.php b/wp-includes/deprecated.php
index a52753e3cb..0671dc1257 100644
--- a/wp-includes/deprecated.php
+++ b/wp-includes/deprecated.php
@@ -3458,6 +3458,21 @@ function format_to_post( $content ) {
 	return $content;
 }
 
+/**
+ * Formerly used to escape strings before searching the DB. It was poorly documented and never worked as described.
+ *
+ * @since 2.5.0
+ * @deprecated 4.0.0
+ * @deprecated Use wpdb::esc_like()
+ *
+ * @param string $text The text to be escaped.
+ * @return string text, safe for inclusion in LIKE query.
+ */
+function like_escape($text) {
+	_deprecated_function( __FUNCTION__, '4.0', 'wpdb::esc_like()' );
+	return str_replace( array( "%", "_" ), array( "\\%", "\\_" ), $text );
+}
+
 /**
  * Determines if the URL can be accessed over SSL.
  *
diff --git a/wp-includes/formatting.php b/wp-includes/formatting.php
index 56a9c1edd0..9292ee1762 100644
--- a/wp-includes/formatting.php
+++ b/wp-includes/formatting.php
@@ -3099,18 +3099,6 @@ function tag_escape($tag_name) {
 	return apply_filters( 'tag_escape', $safe_tag, $tag_name );
 }
 
-/**
- * Escapes text for SQL LIKE special characters % and _.
- *
- * @since 2.5.0
- *
- * @param string $text The text to be escaped.
- * @return string text, safe for inclusion in LIKE query.
- */
-function like_escape($text) {
-	return str_replace(array("%", "_"), array("\\%", "\\_"), $text);
-}
-
 /**
  * Convert full URL paths to absolute paths.
  *
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index 4af280e0cf..8952cb14c0 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '4.0-alpha-20140609';
+$wp_version = '4.0-alpha-20140610';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.
diff --git a/wp-includes/wp-db.php b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
index 68ac32c219..7a09d62a9e 100644
--- a/wp-includes/wp-db.php
+++ b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
@@ -1168,6 +1168,29 @@ class wpdb {
 		return @vsprintf( $query, $args );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * First half of escaping for LIKE special characters % and _ before preparing for MySQL.
+	 *
+	 * Use this only before wpdb::prepare() or esc_sql().  Reversing the order is very bad for security.
+	 *
+	 * Example Prepared Statement:
+	 *  $wild = '%';
+	 *  $find = 'only 43% of planets';
+	 *  $like = $wild . $wpdb->esc_like( $find ) . $wild;
+	 *  $sql  = $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT * FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE post_content LIKE %s", $like );
+	 *
+	 * Example Escape Chain:
+	 *  $sql  = esc_sql( $wpdb->esc_like( $input ) );
+	 *
+	 * @since 4.0.0
+	 *
+	 * @param string $text The raw text to be escaped. The input typed by the user should have no extra or deleted slashes.
+	 * @return string Text in the form of a LIKE phrase. The output is not SQL safe. Call prepare or real_escape next.
+	 */
+	function esc_like( $text ) {
+		return addcslashes( $text, '_%\\' );
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Print SQL/DB error.
 	 *