diff --git a/js/functions.js b/js/functions.js
index 2bc9f90911..0a51657be8 100644
--- a/js/functions.js
+++ b/js/functions.js
@@ -3471,6 +3471,35 @@ function PMA_createqTip($elements, content, options)
     $elements.qtip($.extend(true, o, options));
 }
 
+/**
+ * Create a jQuery UI tooltip
+ *
+ * @param $elements     jQuery object representing the elements
+ * @param item          the item
+ *                      (see http://api.jqueryui.com/tooltip/#option-items)
+ * @param myContent     content of the tooltip
+ * @param additional_options to override the default options
+ *
+ */
+function PMA_tooltip($elements, item, myContent, additional_options)
+{
+    if ($('#no_hint').length > 0) {
+        return;
+    }
+
+    var default_options = {
+        content: myContent,
+        items:  item,
+        //@todo: when PMA_createqTip() is gone, rename this class
+        tooltipClass: "normalqTip",
+        track: true,
+        show: {effect: "slideDown", duration: 250},
+        hide: {effect: "slideUp", duration: 250}
+    }
+
+    $elements.tooltip($.extend(true, default_options, additional_options));
+}
+
 /**
  * Return value of a cell in a table.
  */
diff --git a/js/server_status_variables.js b/js/server_status_variables.js
index a8c2e652a7..f6ce73d2f4 100644
--- a/js/server_status_variables.js
+++ b/js/server_status_variables.js
@@ -17,10 +17,7 @@ AJAX.registerTeardown('server_status_variables.js', function() {
 
 AJAX.registerOnload('server_status_variables.js', function() {
     /*** Table sort tooltip ***/
-    PMA_createqTip(
-        $('table.sortable').children('thead').children('tr').has('th'),
-        PMA_messages['strSortHint']
-    );
+    PMA_tooltip($('table.sortable>thead>tr:first').find('th'), 'th', PMA_messages['strSortHint']);
     initTableSorter('statustabs_allvars');
 
     // Filters for status variables