diff --git a/wp-includes/query.php b/wp-includes/query.php
index 3bc0fcd4f9..1ec9566c41 100644
--- a/wp-includes/query.php
+++ b/wp-includes/query.php
@@ -2801,13 +2801,13 @@ class WP_Query {
 			if ( !$page )
 				$page = 1;
 
-			$pgstrt = ($page - 1) * $q['posts_per_page'];
-
-			if ( ! empty( $q['offset'] ) ) {
+			if ( empty($q['offset']) ) {
+				$pgstrt = ($page - 1) * $q['posts_per_page'] . ', ';
+			} else { // we're ignoring $page and using 'offset'
 				$q['offset'] = absint($q['offset']);
-				$pgstrt += $q['offset'];
+				$pgstrt = $q['offset'] . ', ';
 			}
-			$limits = 'LIMIT ' . $pgstrt . ', ' . $q['posts_per_page'];
+			$limits = 'LIMIT ' . $pgstrt . $q['posts_per_page'];
 		}
 
 		// Comments feeds