Index: wp-includes/taxonomy.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/taxonomy.php	(revision 19595)
+++ wp-includes/taxonomy.php	(working copy)
@@ -1444,7 +1444,7 @@
  * @param int|string $term The term to check
  * @param string $taxonomy The taxonomy name to use
  * @param int $parent ID of parent term under which to confine the exists search.
- * @return mixed Get the term id or Term Object, if exists.
+ * @return mixed 0 if the term doesn't exist, the term ID if $taxonomy is empty, or the term object as an array otherwise.
  */
 function term_exists($term, $taxonomy = '', $parent = 0) {
 	global $wpdb;