table class cols-n stopped working (theme.inc)

upgrading form 6.x-2.12 to 6.x-2.26, I realized that the count of the table columns stopped working, so instead of the correct <table class="views-table cols-1"> I always got <table class="views-table cols-7">. Comparing /views/theme/theme.inc on both versions, I found this change:

404 $vars['class'] .= ' cols-'. count($vars['rows']);
to
414 $vars['class'] .= ' cols-' . count($vars['header']);

Changing back to rows, it's working again. Now I wonder if it's save to revert that line, what was the reasoning behind that change, if it's a bug or a feature? Is this affecting other parts that I don't know of? If not, can this fix be commited?