diff --git a/wp-includes/default-widgets.php b/wp-includes/default-widgets.php
index b0c63b527a..4d269f1dad 100644
--- a/wp-includes/default-widgets.php
+++ b/wp-includes/default-widgets.php
@@ -543,7 +543,7 @@ class WP_Widget_Recent_Posts extends WP_Widget {
 		if ( empty( $instance['number'] ) || ! $number = absint( $instance['number'] ) )
  			$number = 10;
 
-		$r = new WP_Query(array('posts_per_page' => $number, 'no_found_rows' => true, 'post_status' => 'publish', 'ignore_sticky_posts' => true));
+		$r = new WP_Query( apply_filters( 'widget_posts_args', array( 'posts_per_page' => $number, 'no_found_rows' => true, 'post_status' => 'publish', 'ignore_sticky_posts' => true ) ) );
 		if ($r->have_posts()) :
 ?>
 		<?php echo $before_widget; ?>
@@ -649,7 +649,7 @@ class WP_Widget_Recent_Comments extends WP_Widget {
 		if ( empty( $instance['number'] ) || ! $number = absint( $instance['number'] ) )
  			$number = 5;
 
-		$comments = get_comments( array( 'number' => $number, 'status' => 'approve', 'post_status' => 'publish' ) );
+		$comments = get_comments( apply_filters( 'widget_comments_args', array( 'number' => $number, 'status' => 'approve', 'post_status' => 'publish' ) ) );
 		$output .= $before_widget;
 		if ( $title )
 			$output .= $before_title . $title . $after_title;