diff --git a/wp-admin/admin-db.php b/wp-admin/admin-db.php
index 89732b8700..d81b6b845a 100644
--- a/wp-admin/admin-db.php
+++ b/wp-admin/admin-db.php
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ function wp_delete_category($cat_ID) {
 	$cat_ID = (int) $cat_ID;
 
 	// Don't delete the default cat.
-	if (1 == $cat_ID)
+	if ($cat_ID == get_option('default_category'))
 		return 0;
 
 	$category = get_category($cat_ID);
@@ -170,7 +170,8 @@ function wp_delete_category($cat_ID) {
 	$wpdb->query("UPDATE $wpdb->categories SET category_parent = '$parent' WHERE category_parent = '$cat_ID'");
 
 	// TODO: Only set categories to general if they're not in another category already
-	$wpdb->query("UPDATE $wpdb->post2cat SET category_id='1' WHERE category_id='$cat_ID'");
+	$default_cat = get_option('default_category');
+	$wpdb->query("UPDATE $wpdb->post2cat SET category_id='$default_cat' WHERE category_id='$cat_ID'");
 
 	wp_cache_delete($cat_ID, 'category');
 	wp_cache_delete('all_category_ids', 'category');
diff --git a/wp-admin/categories.php b/wp-admin/categories.php
index f70e774d19..30d37c8b4b 100644
--- a/wp-admin/categories.php
+++ b/wp-admin/categories.php
@@ -44,7 +44,8 @@ case 'delete':
 
 	$cat_name = get_catname($cat_ID);
 
-	if ( 1 == $cat_ID )
+	// Don't delete the default cats.
+	if ( $cat_ID == get_option('default_category') )
 		die(sprintf(__("Can't delete the <strong>%s</strong> category: this is the default one"), $cat_name));
 
 	wp_delete_category($cat_ID);