diff --git a/wp-includes/category-template.php b/wp-includes/category-template.php
index f049b26157..dd88b5ec78 100644
--- a/wp-includes/category-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/category-template.php
@@ -350,17 +350,11 @@ function wp_tag_cloud( $args = '' ) {
 	if ( empty( $tags ) )
 		return;
 
-	foreach ( $tags as $key => $tag ) {
-		$link = get_tag_link( $tag->term_id );
-		if ( is_wp_error( $link ) )
-			return false;
-
-		$tags[ $key ]->link = $link;
-		$tags[ $key ]->id = $tag->term_id;
-	}
-
 	$return = wp_generate_tag_cloud( $tags, $args ); // Here's where those top tags get sorted according to $args
 
+	if ( is_wp_error( $return ) )
+		return false;
+
 	$return = apply_filters( 'wp_tag_cloud', $return, $args );
 
 	if ( 'array' == $args['format'] )
@@ -383,19 +377,22 @@ function wp_tag_cloud( $args = '' ) {
 function wp_generate_tag_cloud( $tags, $args = '' ) {
 	global $wp_rewrite;
 	$defaults = array(
-		'smallest' => 8, 'largest' => 22, 'unit' => 'pt',
-		'format' => 'flat', 'orderby' => 'name', 'order' => 'ASC',
-		'single_text' => '%d topic', 'multiple_text' => '%d topics'
+		'smallest' => 8, 'largest' => 22, 'unit' => 'pt', 'number' => 45,
+		'format' => 'flat', 'orderby' => 'name', 'order' => 'ASC'
 	);
 	$args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
 	extract( $args );
 
 	if ( empty( $tags ) )
 		return;
-
-	$counts = array();
-	foreach ( (array) $tags as $key => $tag )
-		$counts[ $key ] = $tag->count;
+	$counts = $tag_links = array();
+	foreach ( (array) $tags as $tag ) {
+		$counts[$tag->name] = $tag->count;
+		$tag_links[$tag->name] = get_tag_link( $tag->term_id );
+		if ( is_wp_error( $tag_links[$tag->name] ) )
+			return $tag_links[$tag->name];
+		$tag_ids[$tag->name] = $tag->term_id;
+	}
 
 	$min_count = min( $counts );
 	$spread = max( $counts ) - $min_count;
@@ -426,13 +423,12 @@ function wp_generate_tag_cloud( $tags, $args = '' ) {
 
 	$rel = ( is_object( $wp_rewrite ) && $wp_rewrite->using_permalinks() ) ? ' rel="tag"' : '';
 
-	foreach ( $counts as $key => $count ) {
-		$tag_link = clean_url( $tags[ $key ]->link );
-		$tag_id = $tags[ $key ]->id;
-		$tag_name = $tags[ $key ]->name;
-		$a[] = "<a href='$tag_link' class='tag-link-$tag_id' title='" . attribute_escape( sprintf( __ngettext( $single_text, $multiple_text, $count ), $count ) ) . "'$rel style='font-size: " .
+	foreach ( $counts as $tag => $count ) {
+		$tag_id = $tag_ids[$tag];
+		$tag_link = clean_url($tag_links[$tag]);
+		$a[] = "<a href='$tag_link' class='tag-link-$tag_id' title='" . attribute_escape( sprintf( __ngettext('%d topic','%d topics',$count), $count ) ) . "'$rel style='font-size: " .
 			( $smallest + ( ( $count - $min_count ) * $font_step ) )
-			. "$unit;'>$tag_name</a>";
+			. "$unit;'>$tag</a>";
 	}
 
 	switch ( $format ) :