diff --git a/wp-includes/query.php b/wp-includes/query.php
index d42ed3092..1590418c3 100644
--- a/wp-includes/query.php
+++ b/wp-includes/query.php
@@ -2080,7 +2080,6 @@ class WP_Query {
 				}
 			}
 			$q['author_name'] = sanitize_title($q['author_name']);
-			$q['author'] = $wpdb->get_var("SELECT ID FROM $wpdb->users WHERE user_nicename='".$q['author_name']."'");
 			$q['author'] = get_user_by('slug', $q['author_name']);
 			if ( $q['author'] )
 				$q['author'] = $q['author']->ID;