diff --git a/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
index 554d6d2..826895b 100644
--- a/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
+++ b/modules/taxonomy/taxonomy.module
@@ -1604,7 +1604,16 @@ function taxonomy_field_formatter_view($entity_type, $entity, $field, $instance,
           );
         }
         else {
-          $term = $item['taxonomy_term'];
+          if (isset($item['taxonomy_term'])) {
+            $term = $item['taxonomy_term'];
+          }
+          elseif (isset($item['tid']) && is_numeric($item['tid'])) {
+            $term = taxonomy_term_load($item['tid']);
+          }
+          else {
+            watchdog('taxonomy', 'Could not format term reference: %item', array('%item' => print_r($item, TRUE)), WATCHDOG_ERROR);
+            return array();
+          }
           $uri = entity_uri('taxonomy_term', $term);
           $element[$delta] = array(
             '#type' => 'link',