diff --git a/src/wp-includes/general-template.php b/src/wp-includes/general-template.php
index 4896531e97..4f15c5f0b3 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/general-template.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/general-template.php
@@ -3768,7 +3768,7 @@ function language_attributes( $doctype = 'html' ) {
  *     @type string $before_page_number A string to appear before the page number. Default empty.
  *     @type string $after_page_number  A string to append after the page number. Default empty.
  * }
- * @return array|string|void String of page links or array of page links.
+ * @return string|array|void String of page links or array of page links.
  */
 function paginate_links( $args = '' ) {
 	global $wp_query, $wp_rewrite;
diff --git a/src/wp-includes/link-template.php b/src/wp-includes/link-template.php
index 31ac27d21f..80a3743fbf 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/link-template.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/link-template.php
@@ -2896,7 +2896,7 @@ function previous_comments_link( $label = '' ) {
  * @global WP_Rewrite $wp_rewrite
  *
  * @param string|array $args Optional args. See paginate_links(). Default empty array.
- * @return string|void Markup for pagination links.
+ * @return string|array|void Markup for comment page links or array of comment page links.
  */
 function paginate_comments_links( $args = array() ) {
 	global $wp_rewrite;
@@ -2925,7 +2925,7 @@ function paginate_comments_links( $args = array() ) {
 	$args       = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
 	$page_links = paginate_links( $args );
 
-	if ( $args['echo'] ) {
+	if ( $args['echo'] && 'array' !== $args['type'] ) {
 		echo $page_links;
 	} else {
 		return $page_links;