diff --git a/wp-admin/options-permalink.php b/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
index 222fa1fc7..331687156 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ if ($_POST['submit']) {
     <p> 
       <input name="permalink_structure" type="text" style="width: 98%;" value="<?php echo $permalink_structure; ?>" /> 
     </p> 
-	<p><?php _e('Enter a path without templates for your categories:') ?> FIXME[THIS WORDING MAKES NO SENSE]</p>
+	<p><?php _e('If you like, you may enter a custom prefix for your category URIs here. For example, <code>/taxonomy/categorias</code> would make your category links like <code>http://example.org/taxonomy/categorias/general/</code>. If you leave this blank the default will be used.') ?></p>
 	<p> 
   <input name="category_base" type="text" style="width: 98%;" value="<?php echo $category_base; ?>" /> 
      </p> 
diff --git a/wp-admin/upgrade-functions.php b/wp-admin/upgrade-functions.php
index bba5c9c0f..f94a7317f 100644
--- a/wp-admin/upgrade-functions.php
+++ b/wp-admin/upgrade-functions.php
@@ -820,7 +820,7 @@ function upgrade_110() {
 
 	// Option for category base
 	if(!$wpdb->get_var("SELECT option_id FROM $tableoptions WHERE option_name = 'category_base'")) {
-		$wpdb->query("INSERT INTO $tableoptions (option_name, option_type, option_value, option_admin_level) VALUES ('category_base', 3, '/category', 8)");
+		$wpdb->query("INSERT INTO $tableoptions (option_name, option_type, option_value, option_admin_level) VALUES ('category_base', 3, '', 8)");
 	}
 
 	// Delete unused options
diff --git a/wp-includes/functions.php b/wp-includes/functions.php
index d6a77d706..8196caa08 100644
--- a/wp-includes/functions.php
+++ b/wp-includes/functions.php
@@ -331,6 +331,7 @@ function get_alloptions() {
 			//  never underestimate the ingenuity of the fools :)"
 			if ('siteurl' == $option->option_name) $option->option_value = preg_replace('|/+$|', '', $option->option_value);
 			if ('home' == $option->option_name) $option->option_value = preg_replace('|/+$|', '', $option->option_value);
+			if ('category_base' == $option->option_name) $option->option_value = preg_replace('|/+$|', '', $option->option_value);
 
 			$all_options->{$option->option_name} = $option->option_value;
 		}
@@ -1278,7 +1279,10 @@ function rewrite_rules($matches = '', $permalink_structure = '') {
 
     // Code for nice categories and authors, currently not very flexible
     $front = substr($permalink_structure, 0, strpos($permalink_structure, '%'));
-    $catmatch = get_settings( 'category_base' ) . '/';
+	if ( '' == get_settings('category_base') )
+		$catmatch = $front . 'category/';
+	else
+	    $catmatch = get_settings('category_base') . '/';
     $catmatch = preg_replace('|^/+|', '', $catmatch);
     
     $catfeedmatch = $catmatch . '(.*)/' . $feedregex;
diff --git a/wp-includes/template-functions-category.php b/wp-includes/template-functions-category.php
index ba0d3e5f5..117adfd61 100644
--- a/wp-includes/template-functions-category.php
+++ b/wp-includes/template-functions-category.php
@@ -24,11 +24,14 @@ function get_category_link($echo = false, $category_id, $category_nicename) {
         $file = get_settings('home') . '/' . get_settings('blogfilename');
         $link = $file.$querystring_start.'cat'.$querystring_equal.$cat_ID;
     } else {
-		$category_nicename = $cache_categories[$category_id]->cat_name;
-		$category_nicename = preg_replace( '|[^a-z0-9-]|i', '', $category_nicename );
+		$category_nicename = $cache_categories[$category_id]->category_nicename;
 		// Get any static stuff from the front
         $front = substr($permalink_structure, 0, strpos($permalink_structure, '%'));
+		if ( '' == get_settings('category_base') ) :
+			$link = get_settings('home') . $front . 'category/';
+		else :
          $link = get_settings('home') . get_settings('category_base') . '/';
+		endif;
         if ($parent=$cache_categories[$category_id]->category_parent) $link .= get_category_parents($parent, FALSE, '/', TRUE);
         $link .= $category_nicename . '/';
     }