diff --git src/wp-includes/general-template.php src/wp-includes/general-template.php
index 5eb3e3d..2f69148 100644
--- src/wp-includes/general-template.php
+++ src/wp-includes/general-template.php
@@ -1430,18 +1430,17 @@ function the_date( $d = '', $before = '', $after = '', $echo = true ) {
  * @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.
+ * @return string Date the current $post was written.
  */
 function get_the_date( $d = '' ) {
 	$post = get_post();
-	$the_date = '';
 
-	if ( '' == $d )
-		$the_date .= mysql2date(get_option('date_format'), $post->post_date);
-	else
-		$the_date .= mysql2date($d, $post->post_date);
+	if ( '' == $d ) {
+		$d = get_option( 'date_format' );
+	}
+	$the_date = mysql2date( $d, $post->post_date );
 
-	return apply_filters('get_the_date', $the_date, $d);
+	return apply_filters( 'get_the_date', $the_date, $d );
 }
 
 /**