diff --git a/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php b/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
index 2720bbf93a..d8f91aa5db 100644
--- a/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
+++ b/wp-admin/admin-ajax.php
@@ -1040,6 +1040,7 @@ case 'set-screen-option':
 		case 'edit_pages_per_page':
 		case 'edit_comments_per_page':
 		case 'upload_per_page':
+		case 'categories_per_page':
 			$value = (int) $value;
 			if ( $value < 1 || $value > 999 )
 				die(-1);
diff --git a/wp-admin/categories.php b/wp-admin/categories.php
index 6669e3daf9..66805f64b3 100644
--- a/wp-admin/categories.php
+++ b/wp-admin/categories.php
@@ -160,15 +160,18 @@ endif; ?>
 $pagenum = isset( $_GET['pagenum'] ) ? absint( $_GET['pagenum'] ) : 0;
 if ( empty($pagenum) )
 	$pagenum = 1;
-if( ! isset( $catsperpage ) || $catsperpage < 0 )
-	$catsperpage = 20;
+
+$cats_per_page = get_user_option('categories_per_page');
+if ( empty($cats_per_page) )
+	$cats_per_page = 20;
+$cats_per_page = apply_filters('edit_categories_per_page', $cats_per_page);
 
 $page_links = paginate_links( array(
 	'base' => add_query_arg( 'pagenum', '%#%' ),
 	'format' => '',
 	'prev_text' => __('&laquo;'),
 	'next_text' => __('&raquo;'),
-	'total' => ceil(wp_count_terms('category') / $catsperpage),
+	'total' => ceil(wp_count_terms('category') / $cats_per_page),
 	'current' => $pagenum
 ));
 
@@ -205,7 +208,7 @@ if ( $page_links )
 
 	<tbody id="the-list" class="list:cat">
 <?php
-cat_rows(0, 0, 0, $pagenum, $catsperpage);
+cat_rows(0, 0, 0, $pagenum, $cats_per_page);
 ?>
 	</tbody>
 </table>
diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/template.php b/wp-admin/includes/template.php
index 28bfe9bb72..592dd1dcf3 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/template.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/template.php
@@ -3523,6 +3523,9 @@ function screen_options($screen) {
 		case 'upload':
 			$per_page_label = __('Media items per page:');
 			break;
+		case 'categories':
+			$per_page_label = __('Categories per page:');
+			break;
 		default:
 			return '';
 	}