Index: wp-includes/general-template.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/general-template.php	(revision 17572)
+++ wp-includes/general-template.php	(working copy)
@@ -1374,17 +1374,17 @@
  * @since 3.0.0
  *
  * @param string $d Optional. PHP date format defaults to the date_format option if not specified.
- * @return string|null Null if displaying, string if retrieving.
+ * @param int|object $post Optional post ID or object. Default is global $post object.
+ * @return string
  */
-function get_the_date( $d = '' ) {
-	global $post;
-	$the_date = '';
-
+function get_the_date( $d = '', $post = null ) {
+	$post = get_post( $post );
+	
 	if ( '' == $d )
-		$the_date .= mysql2date(get_option('date_format'), $post->post_date);
-	else
-		$the_date .= mysql2date($d, $post->post_date);
+		$d = get_option('date_format');
 
+	$the_date = mysql2date( $d, $post->post_date );
+
 	return apply_filters('get_the_date', $the_date, $d);
 }