diff --git a/wp-admin/admin-functions.php b/wp-admin/admin-functions.php
index e6930f8dd3..07766f9db8 100644
--- a/wp-admin/admin-functions.php
+++ b/wp-admin/admin-functions.php
@@ -600,7 +600,7 @@ function checked( $checked, $current) {
 
 function return_categories_list( $parent = 0 ) {
 	global $wpdb;
-	return $wpdb->get_col( "SELECT cat_ID FROM $wpdb->categories WHERE category_parent = $parent ORDER BY category_count DESC" );
+	return $wpdb->get_col( "SELECT cat_ID FROM $wpdb->categories WHERE category_parent = $parent AND ( link_count = 0 OR category_count != 0 ) ORDER BY category_count DESC" );
 }
 
 function sort_cats( $cat1, $cat2 ) {
@@ -674,7 +674,7 @@ function dropdown_categories( $default = 0 ) {
 
 function return_link_categories_list( $parent = 0 ) {
 	global $wpdb;
-	return $wpdb->get_col( "SELECT cat_ID FROM $wpdb->categories WHERE category_parent = $parent ORDER BY link_count DESC" );
+	return $wpdb->get_col( "SELECT cat_ID FROM $wpdb->categories WHERE category_parent = $parent AND (category_count = 0  OR link_count != 0) ORDER BY link_count DESC" );
 }
 
 function get_nested_link_categories( $default = 0, $parent = 0 ) {