diff --git a/src/wp-includes/class-wp-site-query.php b/src/wp-includes/class-wp-site-query.php
index 7beb930627..c97a0f1748 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/class-wp-site-query.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/class-wp-site-query.php
@@ -739,17 +739,17 @@ class WP_Site_Query {
 	 *
 	 * @global wpdb $wpdb WordPress database abstraction object.
 	 *
-	 * @param string   $string  Search string.
+	 * @param string   $search  Search string.
 	 * @param string[] $columns Array of columns to search.
 	 * @return string Search SQL.
 	 */
-	protected function get_search_sql( $string, $columns ) {
+	protected function get_search_sql( $search, $columns ) {
 		global $wpdb;
 
-		if ( false !== strpos( $string, '*' ) ) {
-			$like = '%' . implode( '%', array_map( array( $wpdb, 'esc_like' ), explode( '*', $string ) ) ) . '%';
+		if ( false !== strpos( $search, '*' ) ) {
+			$like = '%' . implode( '%', array_map( array( $wpdb, 'esc_like' ), explode( '*', $search ) ) ) . '%';
 		} else {
-			$like = '%' . $wpdb->esc_like( $string ) . '%';
+			$like = '%' . $wpdb->esc_like( $search ) . '%';
 		}
 
 		$searches = array();