diff --git a/wp-includes/wp-db.php b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
index 466ab67b5e..1ca4c007c2 100644
--- a/wp-includes/wp-db.php
+++ b/wp-includes/wp-db.php
@@ -998,7 +998,7 @@ class wpdb {
 			$args = $args[0];
 		$query = str_replace( "'%s'", '%s', $query ); // in case someone mistakenly already singlequoted it
 		$query = str_replace( '"%s"', '%s', $query ); // doublequote unquoting
-		$query = str_replace( '%f' , '%F', $query ); // Force floats to be locale unaware
+		$query = preg_replace( '|(?<!%)%f|' , '%F', $query ); // Force floats to be locale unaware
 		$query = preg_replace( '|(?<!%)%s|', "'%s'", $query ); // quote the strings, avoiding escaped strings like %%s
 		array_walk( $args, array( $this, 'escape_by_ref' ) );
 		return @vsprintf( $query, $args );