diff --git a/wp-admin/options-discussion.php b/wp-admin/options-discussion.php
index fcc3cb1be5..792c834d7e 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-discussion.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-discussion.php
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ if ($action == 'retrospam') {
 </fieldset>
 <p class="submit">
 <input type="hidden" name="action" value="update" /> 
-<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="'default_pingback_flag','default_ping_status','default_comment_status','comments_notify','moderation_notify','comment_moderation','require_name_email','comment_whitelist','comment_max_links','moderation_keys','blacklist_keys','open_proxy_check'" /> 
+<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="default_pingback_flag,default_ping_status,default_comment_status,comments_notify,moderation_notify,comment_moderation,require_name_email,comment_whitelist,comment_max_links,moderation_keys,blacklist_keys,open_proxy_check" /> 
 <input type="submit" name="Submit" value="<?php _e('Update Options') ?>" /> 
 </p> 
 </form> 
diff --git a/wp-admin/options-general.php b/wp-admin/options-general.php
index f9cc2beddb..f0aa0d6ca2 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-general.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-general.php
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ include('admin-header.php');
 <h2><?php _e('General Options') ?></h2> 
 <form name="form1" method="post" action="options.php"> 
 <input type="hidden" name="action" value="update" /> 
-<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="'blogname','blogdescription','siteurl','admin_email','users_can_register','gmt_offset','date_format','time_format','home','start_of_week','comment_registration','default_role'" /> 
+<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="blogname,blogdescription,siteurl,admin_email,users_can_register,gmt_offset,date_format,time_format,home,start_of_week,comment_registration,default_role" /> 
 <table width="100%" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="5" class="editform"> 
 <tr valign="top"> 
 <th width="33%" scope="row"><?php _e('Weblog title:') ?></th> 
diff --git a/wp-admin/options-misc.php b/wp-admin/options-misc.php
index 2229042c3d..138833b3ab 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-misc.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-misc.php
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ echo "\n\t<option value='$i' $selected>$i</option>";
 </p>
 <p class="submit">
 <input type="hidden" name="action" value="update" />
-<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="'hack_file','use_fileupload','fileupload_realpath','fileupload_url','fileupload_allowedtypes','fileupload_maxk','fileupload_maxk','fileupload_minlevel','use_geo_positions','use_linksupdate'" /> 
+<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="hack_file,use_fileupload,fileupload_realpath,fileupload_url,fileupload_allowedtypes,fileupload_maxk,fileupload_maxk,fileupload_minlevel,use_geo_positions,use_linksupdate" /> 
 	<input type="submit" name="Submit" value="<?php _e('Update Options') ?> &raquo;" />
 </p>
 </form> 
diff --git a/wp-admin/options-personal.php b/wp-admin/options-personal.php
index 4d9583a403..4afffc369f 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-personal.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-personal.php
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ include('admin-header.php');
 <form id="personal-options" method="post" action="options-personal-update.php"> 
 <fieldset>
 <p><?php _e('Personal options are just for you, they don&#8217;t affect other users on blog.'); ?><input type="hidden" name="action" value="update" /> 
-<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="'rich_editing'<?php do_action('personal_option_list'); ?>" /></p>
+<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="rich_editing<?php do_action('personal_option_list'); ?>" /></p>
 <table width="100%" cellspacing="2" cellpadding="5" class="editform"> 
 <tr valign="top"> 
 <th width="33%" scope="row"><?php _e('Editing:') ?></th> 
diff --git a/wp-admin/options-reading.php b/wp-admin/options-reading.php
index 2bd7a45e5a..1274fd14ad 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-reading.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-reading.php
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ include('admin-header.php');
 </p>
 <p class="submit">
 <input type="hidden" name="action" value="update" /> 
-<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="'posts_per_page','what_to_show','posts_per_rss','rss_use_excerpt','blog_charset','gzipcompression' " /> 
+<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="posts_per_page,what_to_show,posts_per_rss,rss_use_excerpt,blog_charset,gzipcompression" /> 
 <input type="submit" name="Submit" value="<?php _e('Update Options') ?> &raquo;" /> 
 </p> 
 </form> 
diff --git a/wp-admin/options-writing.php b/wp-admin/options-writing.php
index b8cf448bcf..f3be849598 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options-writing.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options-writing.php
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ endforeach;
 
 <p class="submit">
 <input type="hidden" name="action" value="update" /> 
-<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="'default_post_edit_rows','use_smilies','rich_editing','ping_sites','mailserver_url', 'mailserver_port','mailserver_login','mailserver_pass','default_category','default_email_category'" /> 
+<input type="hidden" name="page_options" value="default_post_edit_rows,use_smilies,rich_editing,ping_sites,mailserver_url,mailserver_port,mailserver_login,mailserver_pass,default_category,default_email_category" /> 
 <input type="submit" name="Submit" value="<?php _e('Update Options') ?> &raquo;" /> 
 </p>
 </form> 
diff --git a/wp-admin/options.php b/wp-admin/options.php
index ecfb2c2b6a..7d78656845 100644
--- a/wp-admin/options.php
+++ b/wp-admin/options.php
@@ -33,40 +33,32 @@ case 'update':
     
 	if (!$_POST['page_options']) {
 		foreach ($_POST as $key => $value) {
-			$option_names[] = "'$key'";
+			$options[] = "'$key'";
 		}
-		$option_names = implode(',', $option_names);
 	} else {
-		$option_names = stripslashes($_POST['page_options']);
+		$options = explode(',', stripslashes($_POST['page_options']));
 	}
 
-    $options = $wpdb->get_results("SELECT $wpdb->options.option_id, option_name, option_type, option_value, option_admin_level FROM $wpdb->options WHERE option_name IN ($option_names)");
-
 	// Save for later.
 	$old_siteurl = get_settings('siteurl');
 	$old_home = get_settings('home');
 
-// HACK
-// Options that if not there have 0 value but need to be something like "closed"
-    $nonbools = array('default_ping_status', 'default_comment_status');
-    if ($options) {
-		$options = apply_filters( 'options_to_update' , $options );
-        foreach ($options as $option) {
-            $old_val = $option->option_value;
-            $new_val = trim($_POST[$option->option_name]);
-            if( in_array($option->option_name, $nonbools) && ( $new_val == '0' || $new_val == '') )
-				$new_val = 'closed';
-            if ($new_val !== $old_val) {
-                $result = $wpdb->query("UPDATE $wpdb->options SET option_value = '$new_val' WHERE option_name = '$option->option_name'");
-                wp_cache_set($option->option_name, $new_val, 'options');
-				$any_changed++;
-			}
+	// HACK
+	// Options that if not there have 0 value but need to be something like "closed"
+	$nonbools = array('default_ping_status', 'default_comment_status');
+	if ($options) {
+	  foreach ($options as $option) {
+	    $option = trim($option);
+	    $value = trim(stripslashes($_POST[$option]));
+            if( in_array($option, $nonbools) && ( $value == '0' || $value == '') )
+	      $value = 'closed';
+
+	    if ( update_option($option, $value) )
+	      $any_changed++;
+	  }
         }
-        unset($cache_settings); // so they will be re-read
-        get_settings('siteurl'); // make it happen now
-    } // end if options
     
-    if ($any_changed) {
+	if ($any_changed) {
 			// If siteurl or home changed, reset cookies.
 			if ( get_settings('siteurl') != $old_siteurl || get_settings('home') != $old_home ) {
 				// If home changed, write rewrite rules to new location.
diff --git a/wp-includes/functions.php b/wp-includes/functions.php
index 0f7ce6e106..4b216e7156 100644
--- a/wp-includes/functions.php
+++ b/wp-includes/functions.php
@@ -342,7 +342,7 @@ function update_option($option_name, $newvalue) {
 	// If the new and old values are the same, no need to update.
 	$oldvalue = get_option($option_name);
 	if ( $newvalue == $oldvalue )
-		return true;
+		return false;
 
         if ( false === $oldvalue ) {
                 add_option($option_name, $newvalue);