function str_replace_limit($search, $replace, $subject, $limit=-1) {

    if (is_array($search)) {

        foreach ($search as $k=>$v) {

        $search[$k] = '`' . preg_quote($search[$k],'`') . '`';

        }

    }

    else {

        $search = '`' . preg_quote($search,'`') . '`';

    }

return preg_replace($search, $replace, $subject, $limit);

}