diff --git a/wp-admin/options-permalink.php b/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
index 8ce51a7d2a..b2d05d3694 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-permalink.php
@@ -163,9 +163,9 @@ $structures = array(
 
 <h3><?php _e('Optional'); ?></h3>
 <?php if ($is_apache) : ?>
-	<p><?php _e('If you like, you may enter custom structures for your category and tag <abbr title="Universal Resource Locator">URL</abbr>s here. For example, using <code>/topics/</code> as your category base would make your category links like <code>http://example.org/topics/uncategorized/</code>. If you leave these blank the defaults will be used.') ?></p>
+	<p><?php _e('If you like, you may enter custom structures for your category and tag <abbr title="Universal Resource Locator">URL</abbr>s here. For example, using <code>topics</code> as your category base would make your category links like <code>http://example.org/topics/uncategorized/</code>. If you leave these blank the defaults will be used.') ?></p>
 <?php else : ?>
-	<p><?php _e('If you like, you may enter custom structures for your category and tag <abbr title="Universal Resource Locator">URL</abbr>s here. For example, using <code>/topics/</code> as your category base would make your category links like <code>http://example.org/index.php/topics/uncategorized/</code>. If you leave these blank the defaults will be used.') ?></p>
+	<p><?php _e('If you like, you may enter custom structures for your category and tag <abbr title="Universal Resource Locator">URL</abbr>s here. For example, using <code>topics</code> as your category base would make your category links like <code>http://example.org/index.php/topics/uncategorized/</code>. If you leave these blank the defaults will be used.') ?></p>
 <?php endif; ?>
 
 <table class="form-table">
diff --git a/wp-includes/rewrite.php b/wp-includes/rewrite.php
index 8a13a335f0..6e6c47dc1f 100644
--- a/wp-includes/rewrite.php
+++ b/wp-includes/rewrite.php
@@ -67,8 +67,10 @@ function add_rewrite_endpoint($name, $places) {
   * @author Mark Jaquith 
   */
 function _wp_filter_taxonomy_base( $base ) {
-	if ( !empty( $base ) )
-		$base = preg_replace( '|^/index\.php/|', '/', $base );
+	if ( !empty( $base ) ) {
+		$base = preg_replace( '|^/index\.php/|', '', $base );
+		$base = trim( $base, '/' );
+	}
 	return $base;
 }
 
@@ -445,9 +447,8 @@ class WP_Rewrite {
 		}
 
 		if (empty($this->category_base))
-			$this->category_structure = $this->front . 'category/';
-		else
-			$this->category_structure = $this->category_base . '/';
+			$this->category_base = 'category';
+		$this->category_structure = trailingslashit( $this->front . $this->category_base );
 
 		$this->category_structure .= '%category%';
 
@@ -465,9 +466,8 @@ class WP_Rewrite {
 		}
 
 		if (empty($this->tag_base))
-			$this->tag_structure = $this->front . 'tag/';
-		else
-			$this->tag_structure = $this->tag_base . '/';
+			$this->tag_base = 'tag';
+		$this->tag_structure = trailingslashit( $this->front . $this->tag_base );
 
 		$this->tag_structure .= '%tag%';
 
@@ -993,8 +993,8 @@ class WP_Rewrite {
 		if ($this->using_index_permalinks()) {
 			$this->root = $this->index . '/';
 		}
-		$this->category_base = ( ( $this->using_index_permalinks() ) ? '/' . $this->index : '' ) . get_option( 'category_base' );
-		$this->tag_base = ( ( $this->using_index_permalinks() ) ? '/' . $this->index : '' ) . get_option( 'tag_base' );
+		$this->category_base = get_option( 'category_base' );
+		$this->tag_base = get_option( 'tag_base' );
 		unset($this->category_structure);
 		unset($this->author_structure);
 		unset($this->date_structure);
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index df2007909f..06eb3317d4 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -15,6 +15,6 @@ $wp_version = '2.7-bleeding';
  *
  * @global int $wp_db_version
  */
-$wp_db_version = 8201;
+$wp_db_version = 8202;
 
 ?>