diff --git a/core/core.services.yml b/core/core.services.yml
index 1b0d520..f8c5b36 100644
--- a/core/core.services.yml
+++ b/core/core.services.yml
@@ -619,6 +619,7 @@ services:
     scope: request
   asset.css.collection_renderer:
     class: Drupal\Core\Asset\CssCollectionRenderer
+    arguments: [ '@state' ]
   asset.css.collection_optimizer:
     class: Drupal\Core\Asset\CssCollectionOptimizer
     arguments: [ '@asset.css.collection_grouper', '@asset.css.optimizer', '@asset.css.dumper', '@state' ]
@@ -630,6 +631,7 @@ services:
     class: Drupal\Core\Asset\AssetDumper
   asset.js.collection_renderer:
     class: Drupal\Core\Asset\JsCollectionRenderer
+    arguments: [ '@state' ]
   asset.js.collection_optimizer:
     class: Drupal\Core\Asset\JsCollectionOptimizer
     arguments: [ '@asset.js.collection_grouper', '@asset.js.optimizer', '@asset.js.dumper', '@state' ]
diff --git a/core/includes/common.inc b/core/includes/common.inc
index df552ed..2048ab4 100644
--- a/core/includes/common.inc
+++ b/core/includes/common.inc
@@ -4845,7 +4845,7 @@ function drupal_flush_all_caches() {
  */
 function _drupal_flush_css_js() {
   // The timestamp is converted to base 36 in order to make it more compact.
-  variable_set('css_js_query_string', base_convert(REQUEST_TIME, 10, 36));
+  Drupal::state()->set('system.css_js_query_string', base_convert(REQUEST_TIME, 10, 36));
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/core/includes/install.core.inc b/core/includes/install.core.inc
index 91a241f..644ec57 100644
--- a/core/includes/install.core.inc
+++ b/core/includes/install.core.inc
@@ -423,6 +423,13 @@ function install_begin_request(&$install_state) {
       ))
       ->addMethodCall('setUserAgent', array('Drupal (+http://drupal.org/)'));
 
+    $container->register('keyvalue', 'Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueFactory')
+      ->addArgument(new Reference('service_container'));
+    $container->register('keyvalue.memory', 'Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueMemoryFactory');
+    // Override the default keyvalue storage to use memory as the database is
+    // not available.
+    $conf['keyvalue_default'] = 'keyvalue.memory';
+
     // Register the expirable key value store used by form cache.
     $container
       ->register('keyvalue.expirable', 'Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueExpirableFactory')
@@ -431,6 +438,11 @@ function install_begin_request(&$install_state) {
       ->register('keyvalue.expirable.null', 'Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueNullExpirableFactory');
     $conf['keyvalue_expirable_default'] = 'keyvalue.expirable.null';
 
+    $container->register('state', 'Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueStoreInterface')
+      ->setFactoryService(new Reference('keyvalue'))
+      ->setFactoryMethod('get')
+      ->addArgument('state');
+
     // Register Twig template engine for use during install.
     CoreServiceProvider::registerTwig($container);
 
@@ -440,8 +452,10 @@ function install_begin_request(&$install_state) {
     CoreServiceProvider::registerUuid($container);
 
     // Register the CSS and JavaScript asset collection renderers.
-    $container->register('asset.css.collection_renderer', 'Drupal\Core\Asset\CssCollectionRenderer');
-    $container->register('asset.js.collection_renderer', 'Drupal\Core\Asset\JsCollectionRenderer');
+    $container->register('asset.css.collection_renderer', 'Drupal\Core\Asset\CssCollectionRenderer')
+      ->addArgument(new Reference('state'));
+    $container->register('asset.js.collection_renderer', 'Drupal\Core\Asset\JsCollectionRenderer')
+      ->addArgument(new Reference('state'));
 
   }
   // Set the request in the kernel to the new created Request above
@@ -1205,7 +1219,7 @@ function install_database_errors($database, $settings_file) {
  * @see install_settings_form_validate()
  */
 function install_settings_form_submit($form, &$form_state) {
-  global $install_state;
+  global $install_state, $conf;
 
   // Update global settings array and save.
   $settings = array();
@@ -1251,6 +1265,10 @@ function install_settings_form_submit($form, &$form_state) {
   // Add the config directories to settings.php.
   drupal_install_config_directories();
 
+  // The container is about to be rebuilt so we need to unset the keyvalue
+  // storage override that the installer is using.
+  unset($conf['keyvalue_default']);
+
   // Indicate that the settings file has been verified, and check the database
   // for the last completed task, now that we have a valid connection. This
   // last step is important since we want to trigger an error if the new
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Asset/CssCollectionRenderer.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Asset/CssCollectionRenderer.php
index 6d36ede..09846c1 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Asset/CssCollectionRenderer.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Asset/CssCollectionRenderer.php
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 namespace Drupal\Core\Asset;
 
 use Drupal\Core\Asset\AssetCollectionRendererInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueStoreInterface;
 use Drupal\Component\Utility\String;
 
 /**
@@ -15,6 +16,23 @@
 class CssCollectionRenderer implements AssetCollectionRendererInterface {
 
   /**
+   * The state key/value store.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueStoreInterface
+   */
+  protected $state;
+
+  /**
+   * Constructs a CssCollectionRenderer.
+   *
+   * @param \Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueStoreInterface
+   *   The state key/value store.
+   */
+  public function __construct(KeyValueStoreInterface $state) {
+    $this->state = $state;
+  }
+
+  /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function render(array $css_assets) {
@@ -24,7 +42,7 @@ public function render(array $css_assets) {
     // browser-caching. The string changes on every update or full cache
     // flush, forcing browsers to load a new copy of the files, as the
     // URL changed.
-    $query_string = variable_get('css_js_query_string', '0');
+    $query_string = $this->state->get('system.css_js_query_string') ?: '0';
 
     // Defaults for LINK and STYLE elements.
     $link_element_defaults = array(
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Asset/JsCollectionRenderer.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Asset/JsCollectionRenderer.php
index b9f6582..e739d1c 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Asset/JsCollectionRenderer.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Asset/JsCollectionRenderer.php
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 namespace Drupal\Core\Asset;
 
 use Drupal\Core\Asset\AssetCollectionRendererInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueStoreInterface;
 
 /**
  * Renders JavaScript assets.
@@ -14,6 +15,23 @@
 class JsCollectionRenderer implements AssetCollectionRendererInterface {
 
   /**
+   * The state key/value store.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueStoreInterface
+   */
+  protected $state;
+
+  /**
+   * Constructs a CssCollectionRenderer.
+   *
+   * @param \Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueStoreInterface
+   *   The state key/value store.
+   */
+  public function __construct(KeyValueStoreInterface $state) {
+    $this->state = $state;
+  }
+
+  /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function render(array $js_assets) {
@@ -25,7 +43,7 @@ public function render(array $js_assets) {
     // URL changed. Files that should not be cached (see drupal_add_js())
     // get REQUEST_TIME as query-string instead, to enforce reload on every
     // page request.
-    $default_query_string = variable_get('css_js_query_string', '0');
+    $default_query_string = $this->state->get('system.css_js_query_string') ?: '0';
 
     // For inline JavaScript to validate as XHTML, all JavaScript containing
     // XHTML needs to be wrapped in CDATA. To make that backwards compatible
diff --git a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Common/CascadingStylesheetsTest.php b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Common/CascadingStylesheetsTest.php
index 54abcba..052ea57 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Common/CascadingStylesheetsTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Common/CascadingStylesheetsTest.php
@@ -78,7 +78,7 @@ function testRenderFile() {
     $styles = drupal_get_css();
     $this->assertTrue(strpos($styles, $css) > 0, 'Rendered CSS includes the added stylesheet.');
     // Verify that newlines are properly added inside style tags.
-    $query_string = variable_get('css_js_query_string', '0');
+    $query_string = $this->container->get('state')->get('system.css_js_query_string') ?: '0';
     $css_processed = '<link rel="stylesheet" href="' . check_plain(file_create_url($css)) . "?" . $query_string . '" media="all" />';
     $this->assertEqual(trim($styles), $css_processed, 'Rendered CSS includes newlines inside style tags for JavaScript use.');
   }
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ function testAddCssFileWithQueryString() {
     drupal_add_css($css_with_query_string);
 
     $styles = drupal_get_css();
-    $query_string = variable_get('css_js_query_string', '0');
+    $query_string = $this->container->get('state')->get('system.css_js_query_string') ?: '0';
     $this->assertTrue(strpos($styles, $css_without_query_string . '?' . $query_string), 'Query string was appended correctly to css.');
     $this->assertTrue(strpos($styles, str_replace('&', '&amp;', $css_with_query_string)), 'Query string not escaped on a URI.');
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Common/JavaScriptTest.php b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Common/JavaScriptTest.php
index 7c47046..2d3d87b 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Common/JavaScriptTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Tests/Common/JavaScriptTest.php
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ function testAddExternal() {
    * Tests adding JavaScript files with additional attributes.
    */
   function testAttributes() {
-    $default_query_string = variable_get('css_js_query_string', '0');
+    $default_query_string = $this->container->get('state')->get('system.css_js_query_string') ?: '0';
 
     drupal_add_library('system', 'drupal');
     drupal_add_js('http://example.com/script.js', array('attributes' => array('defer' => 'defer')));
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ function testAggregatedAttributes() {
     // Enable aggregation.
     \Drupal::config('system.performance')->set('js.preprocess', 1)->save();
 
-    $default_query_string = variable_get('css_js_query_string', '0');
+    $default_query_string = $this->container->get('state')->get('system.css_js_query_string') ?: '0';
 
     drupal_add_library('system', 'drupal');
     drupal_add_js('http://example.com/script.js', array('attributes' => array('defer' => 'defer')));
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ function testDifferentWeight() {
    * @see drupal_pre_render_conditional_comments()
    */
   function testBrowserConditionalComments() {
-    $default_query_string = variable_get('css_js_query_string', '0');
+    $default_query_string = $this->container->get('state')->get('system.css_js_query_string') ?: '0';
 
     drupal_add_library('system', 'drupal');
     drupal_add_js('core/misc/collapse.js', array('browsers' => array('IE' => 'lte IE 8', '!IE' => FALSE)));
@@ -304,7 +304,7 @@ function testVersionQueryString() {
    * Tests JavaScript grouping and aggregation.
    */
   function testAggregation() {
-    $default_query_string = variable_get('css_js_query_string', '0');
+    $default_query_string = $this->container->get('state')->get('system.css_js_query_string') ?: '0';
 
     // To optimize aggregation, items with the 'every_page' option are ordered
     // ahead of ones without. The order of JavaScript execution must be the
@@ -563,7 +563,7 @@ function testAddJsFileWithQueryString() {
     $js = drupal_get_path('module', 'node') . '/node.js';
     drupal_add_js($js);
 
-    $query_string = variable_get('css_js_query_string', '0');
+    $query_string = $this->container->get('state')->get('system.css_js_query_string') ?: '0';
     $scripts = drupal_get_js();
     $this->assertTrue(strpos($scripts, $js . '?' . $query_string), 'Query string was appended correctly to JS.');
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
index 596122b..3742dde 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -1749,12 +1749,13 @@ function system_update_8031() {
 }
 
 /**
- * Remove the drupal_js_cache_files variable.
+ * Remove the drupal_js_cache_files and css_js_query_string variables.
  *
  * @ingroup config_upgrade
  */
 function system_update_8032() {
   update_variable_del('drupal_js_cache_files');
+  update_variable_del('css_js_query_string');
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/core/tests/Drupal/Tests/Core/Asset/CssCollectionRendererUnitTest.php b/core/tests/Drupal/Tests/Core/Asset/CssCollectionRendererUnitTest.php
index 6fcb055..d8e3a32 100644
--- a/core/tests/Drupal/Tests/Core/Asset/CssCollectionRendererUnitTest.php
+++ b/core/tests/Drupal/Tests/Core/Asset/CssCollectionRendererUnitTest.php
@@ -25,14 +25,6 @@ function file_create_url($uri) {
 
 }
 
-if (!function_exists('variable_get')) {
-
-  function variable_get($variable, $default) {
-    return $default;
-  }
-
-}
-
 }
 
 
@@ -71,6 +63,13 @@ class CssCollectionRendererUnitTest extends UnitTestCase {
    */
   protected $inline_css_group;
 
+  /**
+   * The state mock class.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueStoreInterface|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
+   */
+  protected $state;
+
   public static function getInfo() {
     return array(
       'name' => 'CSS asset collection renderer functionality',
@@ -82,7 +81,9 @@ public static function getInfo() {
   function setUp() {
     parent::setUp();
 
-    $this->renderer = new CssCollectionRenderer();
+    $this->state = $this->getMock('Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueStoreInterface');
+
+    $this->renderer = new CssCollectionRenderer($this->state);
     $this->file_css_group = array(
       'group' => -100,
       'every_page' => TRUE,
@@ -540,6 +541,10 @@ function testRenderProvider() {
    * @dataProvider testRenderProvider
    */
   function testRender(array $css_assets, array $render_elements) {
+    $this->state->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('get')
+      ->with('system.css_js_query_string')
+      ->will($this->returnValue(NULL));
     $this->assertSame($render_elements, $this->renderer->render($css_assets));
   }
 
@@ -547,6 +552,10 @@ function testRender(array $css_assets, array $render_elements) {
    * Tests a CSS asset group with the invalid 'type' => 'internal'.
    */
   function testRenderInvalidType() {
+    $this->state->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('get')
+      ->with('system.css_js_query_string')
+      ->will($this->returnValue(NULL));
     $this->setExpectedException('Exception', 'Invalid CSS asset type.');
 
     $css_group = array(