Index: wp-includes/link-template.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/link-template.php	(revision 27515)
+++ wp-includes/link-template.php	(working copy)
@@ -1291,14 +1291,20 @@
 
 		// Build our arguments for WP_Query.
 		$query_args = array(
-			'posts_per_page'   => 1,
-			'post_status'      => 'publish',
-			'post_type'        => 'post',
-			'orderby'          => 'date',
-			'order'            => 'previous' === $this->adjacent ? 'DESC' : 'ASC',
-			'no_found_rows'    => true,
-			'cache_results'    => true,
-			'date_query'       => array(),
+			'posts_per_page'      => 1,
+			'post_status'         => 'publish',
+			'post_type'           => 'post',
+			'orderby'             => 'date',
+			'order'               => 'previous' === $this->adjacent ? 'DESC' : 'ASC',
+			'ignore_sticky_posts' => true,
+			'date_query'          => array(),
+
+			// Performance considerations:
+			'no_found_rows'          => true,
+			'cache_results'          => true,
+			'update_post_term_cache' => false,
+			'update_post_meta_cache' => false,
+			'split_the_query'        => wp_using_ext_object_cache(),
 		);
 
 		$tax_query = array();
Index: wp-includes/load.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/load.php	(revision 27515)
+++ wp-includes/load.php	(working copy)
@@ -375,7 +375,7 @@
 	$current_using = $_wp_using_ext_object_cache;
 	if ( null !== $using )
 		$_wp_using_ext_object_cache = $using;
-	return $current_using;
+	return (bool) $current_using;
 }
 
 /**
Index: wp-includes/query.php
===================================================================
--- wp-includes/query.php	(revision 27515)
+++ wp-includes/query.php	(working copy)
@@ -3221,6 +3221,9 @@
 		}
 
 		$split_the_query = ( $old_request == $this->request && "$wpdb->posts.*" == $fields && !empty( $limits ) && $q['posts_per_page'] < 500 );
+		if ( $split_the_query && isset( $q['split_the_query'] ) && empty( $q['split_the_query'] ) ) {
+			$split_the_query = false;
+		}
 
 		/**
 		 * Filter whether to split the query.