diff --git a/includes/theme.inc b/includes/theme.inc
index 2d63ee26a6..8ef204ef67 100644
--- a/includes/theme.inc
+++ b/includes/theme.inc
@@ -1951,7 +1951,7 @@ function theme_breadcrumb($variables) {
  *   - footer: An array of table rows which will be printed within a <tfoot>
  *     tag, in the same format as the rows element (see above).
  *     The structure is the same the one defined for the "rows" key except
- *     that the no_stripping boolean has no effect, there is no rows stripping
+ *     that the no_striping boolean has no effect, there is no rows striping
  *     for the table footer.
  *   - attributes: An array of HTML attributes to apply to the table tag.
  *   - caption: A localized string to use for the <caption> tag.
@@ -2077,10 +2077,6 @@ function theme_table(array $variables) {
     );
   }
 
-  // Assigning back the $rows variable into $variables as we won't modify it
-  // anymore.
-  $variables['rows'] = $rows;
-
   // Format the table header.
   if (!empty($header)) {
     $ts = tablesort_init($header);
@@ -2099,6 +2095,7 @@ function theme_table(array $variables) {
     $ts = array();
   }
 
+  // Format the table and footer rows.
   $sections = array();
 
   if (!empty($rows)) {