Node Comment uses Drupal 5 style calls to "l" function

The 'sample' node-comment.tpl.php file and nodecomment.module file both make use of the Drupal 5.x style "l" function which takes up to 7 arguments and not the Drupal 6.x style which takes only 3. This causes data other than an array to be passed into "l," giving me the following PHP error and preventing my content from being themed.

[14-Feb-2009 01:42:53] PHP Fatal error: Unsupported operand types in /home/njds/public_html/includes/common.inc on line 1546

That line in common.inc is within the definition of the "l" function:

  $options += array(
      'attributes' => array(),
      'html' => FALSE,
    );

This is from the += operator getting a non-array value, I think.

I have attached a patch which needs review, but seems to have eliminated the problem for me.