Index: wp-includes/functions.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/functions.php	(revision 3429)
+++ wp-includes/functions.php	(working copy)
@@ -273,6 +273,9 @@
 function get_settings($setting) {
 	global $wpdb;
 
+	if (wp_cache_get($setting, 'notoptions')) {
+		return;
+	}
 	$value = wp_cache_get($setting, 'options');
 
 	if ( false === $value ) {
@@ -285,7 +288,9 @@
 		if( is_object( $row) ) { // Has to be get_row instead of get_var because of funkiness with 0, false, null values
 			$value = $row->option_value;
 			wp_cache_set($setting, $value, 'options');
-		} else {
+		} else { //setting not found
+			//do $setting => $setting to be nice and flexible :)
+			wp_cache_set($setting, $setting, 'notoptions');
 			return false;
 		}
 	}