Index: wp-includes/category-template.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/category-template.php	(revision 4894)
+++ wp-includes/category-template.php	(working copy)
@@ -71,13 +71,17 @@
 	$categories = $category_cache[$blog_id][$id];
 
 	if ( !empty($categories) )
-		sort($categories);
+		usort($categories, '_get_the_category_usort');
 	else
 		$categories = array();
 
 	return $categories;
 }
 
+function _get_the_category_usort($a, $b) {
+	return strcmp($a->category_name, $b->category_name);
+}
+
 function get_the_category_by_ID($cat_ID) {
 	$cat_ID = (int) $cat_ID;
 	$category = &get_category($cat_ID);