diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php b/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php
index eebdecaad..0b9549733 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/dashboard.php
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ function wp_dashboard_recent_comments( $sidebar_args ) {
 
 	$lambda = create_function( '', 'return 5;' );
 	add_filter( 'option_posts_per_rss', $lambda ); // hack - comments query doesn't accept per_page parameter
-	$comments_query = new WP_Query('feed=rss2&withcomments=1');
+	$comments_query = new WP_Query(array('feed' => 'rss2', 'withcomments' => 1));
 	remove_filter( 'option_posts_per_rss', $lambda );
 
 	$is_first = true;
diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/taxonomy.php b/wp-admin/includes/taxonomy.php
index b490ed639..f3c5fcf93 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/taxonomy.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/taxonomy.php
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ function wp_delete_category($cat_ID) {
 	if ( $cat_ID == $default )
 		return 0;
 
-	return wp_delete_term($cat_ID, 'category', "default=$default");
+	return wp_delete_term($cat_ID, 'category', array('default' => $default));
 }
 
 function wp_insert_category($catarr, $wp_error = false) {
diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/template.php b/wp-admin/includes/template.php
index 01030507e..00e1ac8ee 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/template.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/template.php
@@ -489,7 +489,7 @@ foreach ($posts_columns as $column_name=>$column_display_name) {
  */
 function page_rows( $pages ) {
 	if ( ! $pages )
-		$pages = get_pages( 'sort_column=menu_order' );
+		$pages = get_pages( array('sort_column' => 'menu_order') );
 
 	if ( ! $pages )
 		return false;
@@ -701,7 +701,7 @@ function _wp_comment_row( $comment_id, $mode, $comment_status, $checkbox = true
 
 function wp_dropdown_cats( $currentcat = 0, $currentparent = 0, $parent = 0, $level = 0, $categories = 0 ) {
 	if (!$categories )
-		$categories = get_categories( 'hide_empty=0' );
+		$categories = get_categories( array('hide_empty' => 0) );
 
 	if ( $categories ) {
 		foreach ( $categories as $category ) {
diff --git a/wp-includes/bookmark-template.php b/wp-includes/bookmark-template.php
index 50326bcd3..7b6c76ea1 100644
--- a/wp-includes/bookmark-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/bookmark-template.php
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ function wp_list_bookmarks($args = '') {
 
 	if ( $categorize ) {
 		//Split the bookmarks into ul's for each category
-		$cats = get_terms('link_category', "category_name=$category_name&include=$category&orderby=$category_orderby&order=$category_order&hierarchical=0");
+		$cats = get_terms('link_category', array('category_name' => $category_name, 'include' => $category, 'orderby' => $category_orderby, 'order' => $category_order, 'hierarchical' => 0));
 
 		foreach ( (array) $cats as $cat ) {
 			$params = array_merge($r, array('category'=>$cat->term_id));
diff --git a/wp-includes/widgets.php b/wp-includes/widgets.php
index 7762c883c..d868d3cee 100644
--- a/wp-includes/widgets.php
+++ b/wp-includes/widgets.php
@@ -903,7 +903,7 @@ function wp_widget_recent_entries($args) {
 	else if ( $number > 15 )
 		$number = 15;
 
-	$r = new WP_Query("showposts=$number&what_to_show=posts&nopaging=0&post_status=publish");
+	$r = new WP_Query(array('showposts' => $number, 'what_to_show' => 'posts', 'nopaging' => 0, 'post_status' => 'publish'));
 	if ($r->have_posts()) :
 ?>
 		<?php echo $before_widget; ?>