diff --git a/wp-admin/index.php b/wp-admin/index.php
index b6685e9091..f5852a3956 100644
--- a/wp-admin/index.php
+++ b/wp-admin/index.php
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ foreach ($rss->items as $item ) {
 
 <?php
 $comments = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT comment_author, comment_author_url, comment_ID, comment_post_ID FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_approved = '1' ORDER BY comment_date_gmt DESC LIMIT 5");
-$numcomments = $wpdb->get_var("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $tablecomments WHERE comment_approved = '0'");
+$numcomments = $wpdb->get_var("SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $wpdb->comments WHERE comment_approved = '0'");
 
 if ( $comments || $numcomments ) :
 ?>