diff --git a/wp-includes/classes.php b/wp-includes/classes.php
index 3de85c88d..c27b2fcbd 100644
--- a/wp-includes/classes.php
+++ b/wp-includes/classes.php
@@ -249,8 +249,9 @@ class WP {
 	}
 
 	function query_posts() {
+		global $wp_the_query;
 		$this->build_query_string();
-		query_posts($this->query_vars);
+		$wp_the_query->query($this->query_vars);
  	}
 
 	function handle_404() {
diff --git a/wp-includes/query.php b/wp-includes/query.php
index e8dd9d6f0..c544dd336 100644
--- a/wp-includes/query.php
+++ b/wp-includes/query.php
@@ -11,8 +11,9 @@ function get_query_var($var) {
 }
 
 function &query_posts($query) {
-	global $wp_query;
-	return $wp_query->query($query);
+	unset($GLOBALS['wp_query']);
+	$GLOBALS['wp_query'] =& new WP_Query();
+	return $GLOBALS['wp_query']->query($query);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/wp-settings.php b/wp-settings.php
index be76c5428..e6559bcfe 100644
--- a/wp-settings.php
+++ b/wp-settings.php
@@ -226,9 +226,10 @@ $_SERVER = add_magic_quotes($_SERVER);
 
 do_action('sanitize_comment_cookies');
 
-$wp_query   = new WP_Query();
-$wp_rewrite = new WP_Rewrite();
-$wp         = new WP();
+$wp_the_query =& new WP_Query();
+$wp_query     =& $wp_the_query;
+$wp_rewrite   =& new WP_Rewrite();
+$wp           =& new WP();
 
 validate_current_theme();
 define('TEMPLATEPATH', get_template_directory());