diff --git a/CHANGELOG.txt b/CHANGELOG.txt
index 918f78dc206c8855fdffcc6247638c8b9a13df3d..42c7a30da38a091952fe0d500c3099ea267ed40e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.txt
+++ b/CHANGELOG.txt
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 Zen 5.x-1.x-dev
+  #196181: _phptemplate_callback doesn't look in sub-theme folder for .tpl.php files
   * Added SUBTHEME directory as a starter sub-theme for developers
   #199036 by joachim: Make padding on #squeeze conditional
   #199578: Fatal error on Zen Classic theme settings when using admin theme
diff --git a/template-subtheme.php b/template-subtheme.php
index ef4eaa648744a1c3c7845f1562694ad4f735a70c..c5f225bdf2ee25b3be49f64a617b06a5df65a5d0 100644
--- a/template-subtheme.php
+++ b/template-subtheme.php
@@ -53,31 +53,6 @@ function path_to_subtheme() {
   return $theme_path;
 }
 
-/*
- * These next functions allow sub-themes to have their own page.tpl.php,
- * node.tpl.php, node-type.tpl.php, etc.
- */
-function _phptemplate_node($vars, $suggestions) {
-  return _zen_default('node', $vars, $suggestions);
-}
-
-function _phptemplate_comment($vars, $suggestions) {
-  return _zen_default('comment', $vars, $suggestions);
-}
-
-function _phptemplate_page($vars, $suggestions) {
-  return _zen_default('page', $vars, $suggestions);
-}
-
-function _phptemplate_block($vars, $suggestions) {
-  return _zen_default('block', $vars, $suggestions);
-}
-
-function _phptemplate_box($vars, $suggestions) {
-  return _zen_default('box', $vars, $suggestions);
-}
-
-
 /**
  * Allow sub-themes to have their own .tpl.php template files.
  *
@@ -132,3 +107,28 @@ function _zen_default($hook, $variables, $suggestions = array(), $extension = '.
     return call_user_func('_'. $theme_engine .'_render', $file, $variables);
   }
 }
+
+/*
+ * Rather than let _phptemplate_variables() dynamically, and slowly, define
+ * override functions for functions we will definitely need, we define them
+ * explicitly here.
+ */
+function _phptemplate_page($vars, $suggestions) {
+  return _zen_default('page', $vars, $suggestions);
+}
+
+function _phptemplate_node($vars, $suggestions) {
+  return _zen_default('node', $vars, $suggestions);
+}
+
+function _phptemplate_comment($vars, $suggestions) {
+  return _zen_default('comment', $vars, $suggestions);
+}
+
+function _phptemplate_block($vars, $suggestions) {
+  return _zen_default('block', $vars, $suggestions);
+}
+
+function _phptemplate_box($vars, $suggestions) {
+  return _zen_default('box', $vars, $suggestions);
+}
diff --git a/template.php b/template.php
index 61f260173ac6117cf6124e1cf670e1eef86f0eff..9be62ff864763b9c6812e85791b6c68e4a6dd8dd 100644
--- a/template.php
+++ b/template.php
@@ -321,6 +321,26 @@ function _phptemplate_variables($hook, $vars = array()) {
       break;
   }
 
+  /* To override _phptemplate_default(), we need to dynamically define a
+   * _phptemplate_HOOK() function.
+   */
+  if (!function_exists("_phptemplate_$hook")) {
+  	// Only create a function if $hook contains letters and underscores.
+  	if (!preg_match('/\W/', $hook)) {
+      $declaration = <<<EOD
+        function _phptemplate_$hook(\$vars, \$suggestions = array()) {
+          return _zen_default('$hook', \$vars, \$suggestions);
+        }
+EOD;
+      eval($declaration);
+    }
+    else {
+      // Since we can't create an override function, we simply add a template
+      // suggestion that contains the sub-theme directory.
+  	  $vars['template_file'] = "$theme_key/$hook";
+  	}
+  }
+
   // The following is a deprecated function included for backwards compatibility
   // with Zen 5.x-0.8 and earlier. New sub-themes should not use this function.
   if (function_exists('zen_variables')) {