diff --git a/core/modules/node/node.module b/core/modules/node/node.module
index 30161a2..9aadeae 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/node.module
+++ b/core/modules/node/node.module
@@ -1084,7 +1084,7 @@ function template_preprocess_node(&$variables) {
   //   http://drupal.org/node/1941286.
   $variables['name'] = theme('username', array(
     'account' => $node,
-    'link_attributes' => array('rel' => 'author'),
+    'link_options' => array('attributes' => array('rel' => 'author')),
   ));
 
   $uri = $node->uri();
diff --git a/core/modules/rdf/rdf.module b/core/modules/rdf/rdf.module
index aaea6bb..83606f2 100644
--- a/core/modules/rdf/rdf.module
+++ b/core/modules/rdf/rdf.module
@@ -647,13 +647,14 @@ function rdf_preprocess_user(&$variables) {
  * Implements hook_preprocess_HOOK() for theme_username().
  */
 function rdf_preprocess_username(&$variables) {
+  $attributes = array();
   // Because lang is set on the HTML element that wraps the page, the
   // username inherits this language attribute. However, since the username
   // might not be transliterated to the same language that the content is in,
   // we do not want it to inherit the language attribute, so we set the
   // attribute to an empty string.
   if (empty($variables['attributes']['lang'])) {
-    $variables['attributes']['lang'] = '';
+    $attributes['lang'] = '';
   }
 
   // $variables['account'] is a pseudo account object, and as such, does not
@@ -672,10 +673,9 @@ function rdf_preprocess_username(&$variables) {
   // a user profile URI for it (only a homepage which cannot be used as user
   // profile in RDF.)
   if ($variables['uid'] > 0) {
-    $variables['attributes']['about'] = url('user/' . $variables['uid']);
+    $attributes['about'] = url('user/' . $variables['uid']);
   }
 
-  $attributes = array();
   // The typeof attribute specifies the RDF type(s) of this resource. They
   // are defined in the 'rdftype' property of the user RDF mapping.
   if (!empty($rdf_mapping['rdftype'])) {
@@ -696,8 +696,14 @@ function rdf_preprocess_username(&$variables) {
   // separating the values in the RDFa attributes
   // (see http://www.w3.org/TR/rdfa-syntax/#rdfa-attributes).
   // Therefore, merge rather than override so as not to clobber values set by
-  // earlier preprocess functions.
-  $variables['attributes'] = NestedArray::mergeDeep($variables['attributes'], $attributes);
+  // earlier preprocess functions. These attributes will be placed in the a
+  // element if a link is rendered, or on a span element otherwise.
+  if (isset($variables['link_path'])) {
+    $variables['link_options']['attributes'] = array_merge_recursive($variables['link_options']['attributes'], $attributes);
+  }
+  else {
+    $variables['attributes'] = array_merge_recursive($variables['attributes'], $attributes);
+  }
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/core/modules/user/user.module b/core/modules/user/user.module
index 28083e0..fdfde30 100644
--- a/core/modules/user/user.module
+++ b/core/modules/user/user.module
@@ -738,6 +738,7 @@ function template_preprocess_username(&$variables) {
   }
 
   $variables['extra'] = '';
+  $variables['attributes'] = array();
   if (empty($account->uid)) {
    $variables['uid'] = 0;
    if (theme_get_setting('features.comment_user_verification')) {
@@ -763,45 +764,21 @@ function template_preprocess_username(&$variables) {
   // Populate link path and attributes if appropriate.
   if ($variables['uid'] && $variables['profile_access']) {
     // We are linking to a local user.
-    $variables['link_attributes']['title'] = t('View user profile.');
+    $variables['link_options']['attributes']['title'] = t('View user profile.');
     $variables['link_path'] = 'user/' . $variables['uid'];
   }
   elseif (!empty($account->homepage)) {
     // Like the 'class' attribute, the 'rel' attribute can hold a
     // space-separated set of values, so initialize it as an array to make it
     // easier for other preprocess functions to append to it.
-    $variables['link_attributes']['rel'] = 'nofollow';
+    $variables['link_options']['attributes']['rel'] = 'nofollow';
     $variables['link_path'] = $account->homepage;
     $variables['homepage'] = $account->homepage;
   }
   // We do not want the l() function to check_plain() a second time.
   $variables['link_options']['html'] = TRUE;
   // Set a default class.
-  $variables['attributes'] = array('class' => array('username'));
-}
-
-/**
- * Processes variables for theme_username().
- *
- * @see template_preprocess_username()
- */
-function template_process_username(&$variables) {
-  // Finalize the link_options array for passing to the l() function.
-  // This is done in the process phase so that attributes may be added by
-  // modules or the theme during the preprocess phase.
-  if (isset($variables['link_path'])) {
-    // $variables['attributes'] contains attributes that should be applied
-    // regardless of whether a link is being rendered or not.
-    // $variables['link_attributes'] contains attributes that should only be
-    // applied if a link is being rendered. Preprocess functions are encouraged
-    // to use the former unless they want to add attributes on the link only.
-    // If a link is being rendered, these need to be merged. Some attributes are
-    // themselves arrays, so the merging needs to be recursive.
-    // This purposefully does not use
-    // \Drupal\Component\Utility\NestedArray::mergeDeep() for performance
-    // reasons, since it is potentially called very often.
-    $variables['link_options']['attributes'] = array_merge_recursive($variables['link_attributes'], $variables['attributes']);
-  }
+  $variables['link_options']['attributes']['class'] = array('username');
 }
 
 /**