Index: includes/theme.inc
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/drupal/drupal/includes/theme.inc,v
retrieving revision 1.415.2.9
diff -u -p -r1.415.2.9 theme.inc
--- includes/theme.inc	9 Jul 2008 21:48:28 -0000	1.415.2.9
+++ includes/theme.inc	10 Aug 2008 10:26:13 -0000
@@ -1128,8 +1128,11 @@ function theme_links($links, $attributes
         $span_attributes = '';
         if (isset($link['attributes'])) {
           $span_attributes = drupal_attributes($link['attributes']);
+          $output .= '<span'. $span_attributes .'>'. $link['title'] .'</span>';
+        }
+        else {
+          $output .= $link['title'];
         }
-        $output .= '<span'. $span_attributes .'>'. $link['title'] .'</span>';
       }
 
       $i++;