diff --git a/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php b/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
index fb0dcffd42..5c7ce930e1 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
@@ -2418,7 +2418,11 @@ function wp_insert_term( $term, $taxonomy, $args = array() ) {
 		return new WP_Error('empty_term_name', __('A name is required for this term'));
 	}
 	$defaults = array( 'alias_of' => '', 'description' => '', 'parent' => 0, 'slug' => '');
-	$args = wp_parse_args($args, $defaults);
+	$args = wp_parse_args( $args, $defaults );
+
+	if ( $args['parent'] > 0 && ! term_exists( (int) $args['parent'] ) ) {
+		return new WP_Error( 'missing_parent', __( 'The selected parent term no longer exists' ) );
+	}
 	$args['name'] = $term;
 	$args['taxonomy'] = $taxonomy;
 	$args = sanitize_term($args, $taxonomy, 'db');
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/term.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/term.php
index 8f01469f75..c95cbd41e3 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/term.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/term.php
@@ -690,4 +690,16 @@ class Tests_Term extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 		$this->assertEquals( $tag_id, $terms[0]->term_id );
 		$this->assertEquals( 'This description is even more amazing!', $terms[0]->description );
 	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 19205
+	 */
+	function test_orphan_category() {
+		$cat_id1 = $this->factory->category->create();
+
+		wp_delete_category( $cat_id1 );
+
+		$cat_id2 = $this->factory->category->create( array( 'parent' => $cat_id1 ) );
+		$this->assertWPError( $cat_id2 );
+	}
 }