diff --git a/actions/featured.php b/actions/featured.php
index 14d653cea2..86fd3f374a 100644
--- a/actions/featured.php
+++ b/actions/featured.php
@@ -116,15 +116,10 @@ class FeaturedAction extends Action
                 $quoted[] = "'$nick'";
             }
 
-            $table = "user";
-            if(common_config('db','quote_identifiers')) {
-              $table = '"' . $table . '"';
-            }
-
             $user = new User;
             $user->whereAdd(sprintf('nickname IN (%s)', implode(',', $quoted)));
             $user->limit(($this->page - 1) * PROFILES_PER_PAGE, PROFILES_PER_PAGE + 1);
-            $user->orderBy($table .'.nickname ASC');
+            $user->orderBy(common_database_tablename('user') .'.nickname ASC');
 
             $user->find();
 
diff --git a/lib/util.php b/lib/util.php
index 6341438cae..19637d5465 100644
--- a/lib/util.php
+++ b/lib/util.php
@@ -1300,3 +1300,16 @@ function common_compatible_license($from, $to)
     // XXX: better compatibility check needed here!
     return ($from == $to);
 }
+
+/**
+ * returns a quoted table name, if required according to config
+ */
+function common_database_tablename($tablename)
+{
+  
+  if(common_config('db','quote_identifiers')) {
+      $tablename = '"'. $tablename .'"';
+  }
+  //table prefixes could be added here later
+  return $tablename;
+}
\ No newline at end of file