diff --git a/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php b/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
index 534a9de4f1..47633d1f02 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/taxonomy.php
@@ -1209,7 +1209,7 @@ function get_terms( $args = array(), $deprecated = '' ) {
 	$terms = $term_query->query( $args );
 
 	// Count queries are not filtered, for legacy reasons.
-	if ( $term_query->query_vars['count'] ) {
+	if ( ! is_array( $terms ) ) {
 		return $terms;
 	}
 
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/term/getTerms.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/term/getTerms.php
index 623a36cb86..b12877689c 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/term/getTerms.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/term/getTerms.php
@@ -2183,12 +2183,12 @@ class Tests_Term_getTerms extends WP_UnitTestCase {
 	 * @ticket 36992
 	 * @ticket 35381
 	 */
-	public function test_count_should_pass_through_main_get_terms_filter() {
+	public function test_count_should_not_pass_through_main_get_terms_filter() {
 		add_filter( 'get_terms', array( __CLASS__, 'maybe_filter_count' ) );
 
 		$found = get_terms( array(
 			'hide_empty' => 0,
-			'count' => true,
+			'fields' => 'count',
 		) );
 
 		remove_filter( 'get_terms', array( __CLASS__, 'maybe_filter_count' ) );