diff --git a/wp-includes/comment-template.php b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
index 5146c9f908..7b6e44c094 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
@@ -1233,57 +1233,54 @@ function comments_template( $file = '/comments.php', $separate_comments = false
 		$per_page = (int) get_option( 'comments_per_page' );
 	}
 
-	$flip_comment_order = $trim_comments_on_page = false;
-	if ( $post->comment_count > $per_page ) {
-		$comment_args['number'] = $per_page;
-
-		/*
-		 * For legacy reasons, higher page numbers always mean more recent comments, regardless of sort order.
-		 * Since we don't have full pagination info until after the query, we use some tricks to get the
-		 * right comments for the current page.
-		 *
-		 * Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!
-		 */
-		$page = (int) get_query_var( 'cpage' );
-		if ( 'newest' === get_option( 'default_comments_page' ) ) {
-			if ( $page ) {
-				$comment_args['order'] = 'ASC';
-
-				/*
-				 * We don't have enough data (namely, the total number of comments) to calculate an
-				 * exact offset. We'll fetch too many comments, and trim them as needed
-				 * after the query.
-				 */
-				$offset = ( $page - 2 ) * $per_page;
-				if ( 0 > $offset ) {
-					// `WP_Comment_Query` doesn't support negative offsets.
-					$comment_args['offset'] = 0;
-				} else {
-					$comment_args['offset'] = $offset;
-				}
-
-				// Fetch double the number of comments we need.
-				$comment_args['number'] += $per_page;
-				$trim_comments_on_page = true;
-			} else {
-				$comment_args['order'] = 'DESC';
-				$comment_args['offset'] = 0;
-				$flip_comment_order = true;
-			}
-		} else {
+	/*
+	 * For legacy reasons, higher page numbers always mean more recent comments, regardless of sort order.
+	 * Since we don't have full pagination info until after the query, we use some tricks to get the
+	 * right comments for the current page.
+	 *
+	 * Abandon all hope, ye who enter here!
+	 */
+	$flip_comment_order = $trim_comments_on_page= false;
+	$comment_args['number'] = $per_page;
+	$page = (int) get_query_var( 'cpage' );
+	if ( 'newest' === get_option( 'default_comments_page' ) ) {
+		if ( $page ) {
 			$comment_args['order'] = 'ASC';
-			if ( $page ) {
-				$comment_args['offset'] = ( $page - 1 ) * $per_page;
-			} else {
+
+			/*
+			 * We don't have enough data (namely, the total number of comments) to calculate an
+			 * exact offset. We'll fetch too many comments, and trim them as needed
+			 * after the query.
+			 */
+			$offset = ( $page - 2 ) * $per_page;
+			if ( 0 > $offset ) {
+				// `WP_Comment_Query` doesn't support negative offsets.
 				$comment_args['offset'] = 0;
+			} else {
+				$comment_args['offset'] = $offset;
 			}
+
+			// Fetch double the number of comments we need.
+			$comment_args['number'] += $per_page;
+			$trim_comments_on_page = true;
+		} else {
+			$comment_args['order'] = 'DESC';
+			$comment_args['offset'] = 0;
+			$flip_comment_order = true;
+		}
+	} else {
+		$comment_args['order'] = 'ASC';
+		if ( $page ) {
+			$comment_args['offset'] = ( $page - 1 ) * $per_page;
+		} else {
+			$comment_args['offset'] = 0;
 		}
 	}
 
 	$comment_query = new WP_Comment_Query( $comment_args );
 	$_comments = $comment_query->comments;
 
-	// Delightful pagination quirk #1: first page of results sometimes needs reordering.
+	// Delightful pagination quirk #1: `wp_list_comments()` expects the order to be wrong, so we make it wrong.
 	if ( $flip_comment_order ) {
 		$_comments = array_reverse( $_comments );
 	}
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index 73407b91b9..aed1723225 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '4.4-alpha-34668';
+$wp_version = '4.4-alpha-34669';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.