diff --git a/wp-includes/canonical.php b/wp-includes/canonical.php
index 65df0edf55..81af9be623 100644
--- a/wp-includes/canonical.php
+++ b/wp-includes/canonical.php
@@ -146,7 +146,7 @@ function redirect_canonical($requested_url=null, $do_redirect=true) {
 		} elseif ( is_category() || is_tag() || is_tax() ) { // Terms (Tags/categories)
 
 			$term_count = 0;
-			foreach ( $wp_query->tax_query as $tax_query )
+			foreach ( $wp_query->get('tax_query') as $tax_query )
 				$term_count += count( $tax_query['terms'] );
 
 			$obj = $wp_query->get_queried_object();
diff --git a/wp-includes/classes.php b/wp-includes/classes.php
index fb8e415d85..0baf3005e9 100644
--- a/wp-includes/classes.php
+++ b/wp-includes/classes.php
@@ -563,27 +563,6 @@ class WP_Object_Query {
 	 */
 	var $meta_query = array();
 
-	/*
-	 * List of taxonomy queries
-	 *
-	 * A query is an associative array:
-	 * - 'taxonomy' string|array The taxonomy being queried
-	 * - 'terms' string|array The list of terms
-	 * - 'field' string (optional) Which term field is being used.
-	 *		Possible values: 'term_id', 'slug' or 'name'
-	 *		Default: 'slug'
-	 * - 'operator' string (optional)
-	 *		Possible values: 'IN' and 'NOT IN'.
-	 *		Default: 'IN'
-	 * - 'include_children' bool (optional) Whether to include child terms.
-	 *		Default: true
-	 *
-	 * @since 3.1.0
-	 * @access public
-	 * @var array
-	 */
-	var $tax_query = array();
-
 	/*
 	 * Populates the $meta_query property
 	 *
@@ -694,16 +673,26 @@ class WP_Object_Query {
 	 * @access protected
 	 * @since 3.1.0
 	 *
-	 * @uses $this->tax_query
+	 * @param array $tax_query List of taxonomy queries. A single taxonomy query is an associative array:
+	 * - 'taxonomy' string|array The taxonomy being queried
+	 * - 'terms' string|array The list of terms
+	 * - 'field' string (optional) Which term field is being used.
+	 *		Possible values: 'term_id', 'slug' or 'name'
+	 *		Default: 'slug'
+	 * - 'operator' string (optional)
+	 *		Possible values: 'IN' and 'NOT IN'.
+	 *		Default: 'IN'
+	 * - 'include_children' bool (optional) Whether to include child terms.
+	 *		Default: true
 	 *
 	 * @param string $object_id_column
 	 * @return string
 	 */
-	function get_tax_sql( $object_id_column ) {
+	function get_tax_sql( $tax_query, $object_id_column ) {
 		global $wpdb;
 
 		$sql = array();
-		foreach ( $this->tax_query as $query ) {
+		foreach ( $tax_query as $query ) {
 			if ( !isset( $query['include_children'] ) )
 				$query['include_children'] = true;
 
diff --git a/wp-includes/query.php b/wp-includes/query.php
index 98d9962111..c66cb30975 100644
--- a/wp-includes/query.php
+++ b/wp-includes/query.php
@@ -1081,7 +1081,6 @@ class WP_Query extends WP_Object_Query {
 		unset($this->posts);
 		unset($this->query);
 		$this->query_vars = array();
-		$this->tax_query = array();
 		$this->meta_query = array();
 		unset($this->queried_object);
 		unset($this->queried_object_id);
@@ -1399,7 +1398,15 @@ class WP_Query extends WP_Object_Query {
 			do_action_ref_array('parse_query', array(&$this));
 	}
 
-	function parse_tax_query( $q ) {
+	/*
+	 * Populates the 'tax_query' property
+	 *
+	 * @access protected
+	 * @since 3.1.0
+	 *
+	 * @param array &$q The query variables
+	 */
+	function parse_tax_query( &$q ) {
 		if ( ! empty( $q['tax_query'] ) && is_array( $q['tax_query'] ) ) {
 			$tax_query = $q['tax_query'];
 		} else {
@@ -1502,9 +1509,9 @@ class WP_Query extends WP_Object_Query {
 			);
 		}
 
-		$this->tax_query = $tax_query;
+		$q['tax_query'] = $tax_query;
 
-		foreach ( $this->tax_query as $query ) {
+		foreach ( $q['tax_query'] as $query ) {
 			if ( 'IN' == $query['operator'] ) {
 				switch ( $query['taxonomy'] ) {
 					case 'category':
@@ -1845,7 +1852,7 @@ class WP_Query extends WP_Object_Query {
 		$search = apply_filters_ref_array('posts_search', array( $search, &$this ) );
 
 		// Taxonomies
-		if ( !empty( $this->tax_query ) ) {
+		if ( !empty( $q['tax_query'] ) ) {
 			if ( empty($post_type) ) {
 				$post_type = 'any';
 				$post_status_join = true;
@@ -1853,11 +1860,11 @@ class WP_Query extends WP_Object_Query {
 				$post_status_join = true;
 			}
 
-			$where .= $this->get_tax_sql( "$wpdb->posts.ID" );
+			$where .= $this->get_tax_sql( $q['tax_query'], "$wpdb->posts.ID" );
 
 			// Back-compat
 			if ( !empty( $ids ) ) {
-				$cat_query = wp_list_filter( $this->tax_query, array( 'taxonomy' => 'category' ) );
+				$cat_query = wp_list_filter( $q['tax_query'], array( 'taxonomy' => 'category' ) );
 				if ( !empty( $cat_query ) ) {
 					$cat_query = reset( $cat_query );
 					$cat = get_term_by( $cat_query['field'], $cat_query['terms'][0], 'category' );
@@ -2514,9 +2521,11 @@ class WP_Query extends WP_Object_Query {
 		$this->queried_object = NULL;
 		$this->queried_object_id = 0;
 
-		if ( $this->tax_query ) {
-			$query = reset( $this->tax_query );
-			if ( 'term_id' == $query['field']  )
+		$tax_query = $this->get('tax_query');
+
+		if ( !empty( $tax_query ) ) {
+			$query = reset( $tax_query );
+			if ( 'term_id' == $query['field'] )
 				$term = get_term( reset( $query['terms'] ), $query['taxonomy'] );
 			else
 				$term = get_term_by( $query['field'], reset( $query['terms'] ), $query['taxonomy'] );