diff --git a/wp-admin/menu.php b/wp-admin/menu.php
index e39d638ea..3db528fa9 100644
--- a/wp-admin/menu.php
+++ b/wp-admin/menu.php
@@ -20,7 +20,8 @@ elseif (strpos($_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'], 'link-add.php') !== false)
 else
 	$menu[10] = array(__('Manage'), 'edit_posts', 'edit.php');
 
-$awaiting_mod = $wpdb->get_var("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_approved = '0'");
+$awaiting_mod = wp_count_comments();
+$awaiting_mod = $awaiting_mod->moderated;
 $menu[15] = array(__('Design'), 'switch_themes', 'themes.php');
 $menu[20] = array( sprintf( __('Comments %s'), "<span id='awaiting-mod' class='count-$awaiting_mod'><span class='comment-count'>$awaiting_mod</span></span>" ), 'edit_posts', 'edit-comments.php');
 $menu[30] = array(__('Settings'), 'manage_options', 'options-general.php');
diff --git a/wp-includes/comment.php b/wp-includes/comment.php
index b402dbd8c..cfd585661 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment.php
@@ -451,6 +451,11 @@ function wp_blacklist_check($author, $email, $url, $comment, $user_ip, $user_age
 function wp_count_comments() {
 	global $wpdb;
 
+	$count = wp_cache_get('comments', 'counts');
+
+	if ( false !== $count )
+		return $count;
+
 	$count = $wpdb->get_results( "SELECT comment_approved, COUNT( * ) AS num_comments FROM {$wpdb->comments} GROUP BY comment_approved", ARRAY_A );
 
 	$stats = array( );
@@ -464,7 +469,10 @@ function wp_count_comments() {
 			$stats[$key] = 0;
 	}
 
-	return (object) $stats;
+	$stats = (object) $stats;
+	wp_cache_set('comments', $stats, 'counts');
+
+	return $stats;
 }
 
 /**