diff --git a/wp-admin/list-manipulation.php b/wp-admin/list-manipulation.php
index b056ff4e7..97f144abb 100644
--- a/wp-admin/list-manipulation.php
+++ b/wp-admin/list-manipulation.php
@@ -56,8 +56,7 @@ case 'delete-comment' :
 	if ( !current_user_can('edit_post', $comment->comment_post_ID) )	
 		die('-1');
 
-	if ( wp_set_comment_status($comment->comment_ID, "delete") ) {
-		do_action('delete_comment', $comment->comment_ID);
+	if ( wp_delete_comment($comment->comment_ID) ) {
 		die('1');
 	} else {
 		die('0');
diff --git a/wp-admin/upgrade-functions.php b/wp-admin/upgrade-functions.php
index 800d47e40..6a17548f0 100644
--- a/wp-admin/upgrade-functions.php
+++ b/wp-admin/upgrade-functions.php
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ function upgrade_all() {
 		upgrade_130();
 	}
 	
-	if ( $wp_current_db_version < 3092 )
+	if ( $wp_current_db_version < 3104 )
 		upgrade_160();
 
 	save_mod_rewrite_rules();
@@ -300,7 +300,15 @@ function upgrade_160() {
 			$wpdb->query("UPDATE $wpdb->categories SET category_count = '$count' WHERE cat_ID = '$cat_id'");
 		}
 	}
-	
+
+	// populate comment_count field of posts table
+	$comments = $wpdb->get_results( "SELECT comment_post_ID, COUNT(*) as c FROM $wpdb->comments GROUP BY comment_post_ID" );
+	if( is_array( $comments ) ) {
+		foreach ($comments as $comment) {
+			$wpdb->query( "UPDATE $wpdb->posts SET comment_count = $comment->c WHERE ID = '$comment->comment_post_ID}'" );
+		}
+	}
+
 	// Some alpha versions used a post status of object instead of attachment and put
 	// the mime type in post_type instead of post_mime_type.
 	if ( $wp_current_db_version > 2541 && $wp_current_db_version <= 3091 ) {
diff --git a/wp-admin/upgrade-schema.php b/wp-admin/upgrade-schema.php
index 0538df8bf..d5b00f247 100644
--- a/wp-admin/upgrade-schema.php
+++ b/wp-admin/upgrade-schema.php
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ CREATE TABLE $wpdb->posts (
   menu_order int(11) NOT NULL default '0',
   post_type varchar(100) NOT NULL,
   post_mime_type varchar(100) NOT NULL,
+  comment_count bigint(20) NOT NULL default '0',
   PRIMARY KEY  (ID),
   KEY post_name (post_name)
 );
diff --git a/wp-includes/comment-functions.php b/wp-includes/comment-functions.php
index 566d8efe6..ee1a666fe 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment-functions.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment-functions.php
@@ -81,7 +81,12 @@ function wp_insert_comment($commentdata) {
 	('$comment_post_ID', '$comment_author', '$comment_author_email', '$comment_author_url', '$comment_author_IP', '$comment_date', '$comment_date_gmt', '$comment_content', '$comment_approved', '$comment_agent', '$comment_type', '$comment_parent', '$user_id')
 	");
 
-	return $wpdb->insert_id;
+	$id = $wpdb->insert_id;
+
+	if ( $comment_approved == 1)
+		$wpdb->query( "UPDATE $wpdb->posts SET comment_count = comment_count + 1 WHERE ID = '$comment_post_ID'" );
+	
+	return $id;
 }
 
 function wp_filter_comment($commentdata) {
@@ -176,9 +181,30 @@ function wp_update_comment($commentarr) {
 
 	$rval = $wpdb->rows_affected;
 
+	$c = $wpdb->get_row( "SELECT count(*) as c FROM {$wpdb->comments} WHERE comment_post_ID = '$comment_post_ID' AND comment_approved = '1'" );
+	if( is_object( $c ) )
+		$wpdb->query( "UPDATE $wpdb->posts SET comment_count = '$c->c' WHERE ID = '$comment_post_ID'" );
+
 	do_action('edit_comment', $comment_ID);
 
-	return $rval;	
+	return $rval;
+}
+
+function wp_delete_comment($comment_id) {
+	global $wpdb;
+	do_action('delete_comment', $comment_id);
+
+	$comment = get_comment($comment_id);
+
+	if ( ! $wpdb->query("DELETE FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_ID='$comment_id' LIMIT 1") )
+		return false;
+
+	$post_id = $comment->comment_post_ID;
+	if ( $post_id )
+		$wpdb->query( "UPDATE $wpdb->posts SET comment_count = comment_count - 1 WHERE ID = '$post_id'" );
+
+	do_action('wp_set_comment_status', $comment_id, 'delete');
+	return true;
 }
 
 function clean_url( $url ) {
@@ -198,7 +224,7 @@ function get_comments_number( $post_id = 0 ) {
 		$post_id = $id;
 
 	if ( !isset($comment_count_cache[$post_id]) )
-		$comment_count_cache[$post_id] =  $wpdb->get_var("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_post_ID = '$post_id' AND comment_approved = '1'");
+		$comment_count_cache[$id] = $wpdb->get_var("SELECT comment_count FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE ID = '$post_id'");
 	
 	return apply_filters('get_comments_number', $comment_count_cache[$post_id]);
 }
@@ -742,7 +768,7 @@ function wp_set_comment_status($comment_id, $comment_status) {
  			$query = "UPDATE $wpdb->comments SET comment_approved='spam' WHERE comment_ID='$comment_id' LIMIT 1";
  		break;
 		case 'delete':
-			$query = "DELETE FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_ID='$comment_id' LIMIT 1";
+			return wp_delete_comment($comment_id);
 		break;
 		default:
 			return false;
@@ -750,6 +776,12 @@ function wp_set_comment_status($comment_id, $comment_status) {
     
     if ($wpdb->query($query)) {
 		do_action('wp_set_comment_status', $comment_id, $comment_status);
+		
+		$comment = get_comment($comment_id);
+		$comment_post_ID = $comment->comment_post_ID;
+		$c = $wpdb->get_row( "SELECT count(*) as c FROM {$wpdb->comments} WHERE comment_post_ID = '$comment_post_ID' AND comment_approved = '1'" );
+		if( is_object( $c ) )
+			$wpdb->query( "UPDATE $wpdb->posts SET comment_count = '$c->c' WHERE ID = '$comment_post_ID'" );
 		return true;
     } else {
 		return false;
diff --git a/wp-includes/functions.php b/wp-includes/functions.php
index 9a64a8790..281bd613e 100644
--- a/wp-includes/functions.php
+++ b/wp-includes/functions.php
@@ -1306,11 +1306,7 @@ function update_post_caches(&$posts) {
 	update_post_category_cache($post_id_list);
 
 	// Do the same for comment numbers
-	$comment_counts = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT comment_post_ID, COUNT( comment_ID ) AS ccount
-	FROM $wpdb->comments
-	WHERE comment_post_ID IN ($post_id_list)
-	AND comment_approved = '1'
-	GROUP BY comment_post_ID");
+	$comment_counts = $wpdb->get_results( "SELECT ID as comment_post_ID, comment_count as ccount FROM $wpdb->posts WHERE ID in ($post_id_list)" );
 
 	if ( $comment_counts ) {
 		foreach ($comment_counts as $comment_count) {
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index fccbeda6b..767eb8c30 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -3,6 +3,6 @@
 // This just holds the version number, in a separate file so we can bump it without cluttering the SVN
 
 $wp_version = '1.6-ALPHA-2-still-dont-use';
-$wp_db_version = 3092;
+$wp_db_version = 3104;
 
 ?>