diff --git a/wp-includes/taxonomy.php b/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
index 0e7a36045..0bdde1acb 100644
--- a/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
+++ b/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ function wp_delete_term( $term, $taxonomy, $args = array() ) {
 			return $term_obj;
 		$parent = $term_obj->parent;
 
-		$wpdb->update( $wpdb->term_taxonomy, compact( $parent ), array( 'parent' => $term_obj->term_id) + compact( $taxonomy ) );
+		$wpdb->update( $wpdb->term_taxonomy, compact( 'parent' ), array( 'parent' => $term_obj->term_id) + compact( 'taxonomy' ) );
 	}
 
 	$objects = $wpdb->get_col( $wpdb->prepare( "SELECT object_id FROM $wpdb->term_relationships WHERE term_taxonomy_id = %d", $tt_id ) );