diff --git a/core/modules/file/file.field.inc b/core/modules/file/file.field.inc
index db8e07e..dcb2a8c 100644
--- a/core/modules/file/file.field.inc
+++ b/core/modules/file/file.field.inc
@@ -926,7 +926,7 @@ function file_field_formatter_view($entity_type, $entity, $field, $instance, $la
       foreach ($items as $delta => $item) {
         $element[$delta] = array(
           '#theme' => 'file_link',
-          '#file' => file_load($item['fid']),
+          '#file' => (object) $item,
         );
       }
       break;
@@ -965,7 +965,7 @@ function theme_file_formatter_table($variables) {
   $rows = array();
   foreach ($variables['items'] as $delta => $item) {
     $rows[] = array(
-      theme('file_link', array('file' => file_load($item['fid']))),
+      theme('file_link', array('file' => (object) $item)),
       format_size($item['filesize']),
     );
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/file/file.module b/core/modules/file/file.module
index 78112c6..0f5ff7a 100644
--- a/core/modules/file/file.module
+++ b/core/modules/file/file.module
@@ -736,7 +736,8 @@ function theme_file_link($variables) {
   $icon_directory = $variables['icon_directory'];
 
   $url = file_create_url($file->uri);
-  $icon = theme('file_icon', array('file' => $file, 'icon_directory' => $icon_directory));
+  // theme_file_icon() requires a file entity, make sure it gets one.
+  $icon = theme('file_icon', array('file' => ($file instanceof File) ? $file : file_load($file->fid), 'icon_directory' => $icon_directory));
 
   // Set options as per anchor format described at
   // http://microformats.org/wiki/file-format-examples
diff --git a/core/modules/file/tests/file.test b/core/modules/file/tests/file.test
index ae955f0..b7ed85a 100644
--- a/core/modules/file/tests/file.test
+++ b/core/modules/file/tests/file.test
@@ -809,7 +809,7 @@ class FileFieldDisplayTestCase extends FileFieldTestCase {
 
     // Check that the default formatter is displaying with the file name.
     $node = node_load($nid, NULL, TRUE);
-    $node_file = file_load($node->{$field_name}[LANGUAGE_NOT_SPECIFIED][0]['fid']);
+    $node_file = (object) $node->{$field_name}[LANGUAGE_NOT_SPECIFIED][0];
     $default_output = theme('file_link', array('file' => $node_file));
     $this->assertRaw($default_output, t('Default formatter displaying correctly on full node view.'));