diff --git a/core/includes/bootstrap.inc b/core/includes/bootstrap.inc
index 2381ea9..60094bf 100644
--- a/core/includes/bootstrap.inc
+++ b/core/includes/bootstrap.inc
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use Symfony\Component\ClassLoader\UniversalClassLoader;
 use Symfony\Component\ClassLoader\ApcUniversalClassLoader;
 use Drupal\Core\DependencyInjection\ContainerBuilder;
 use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;
+use Drupal\Core\Language\Language;
 
 /**
  * @file
@@ -2677,18 +2678,19 @@ function language_list() {
     $default = language_default();
     if (language_multilingual() || module_exists('language')) {
       // Use language module configuration if available.
-      $languages = db_query('SELECT * FROM {language} ORDER BY weight ASC, name ASC')->fetchAllAssoc('langcode');
+      $languages = db_query('SELECT * FROM {language} ORDER BY weight ASC, name ASC')->fetchAllAssoc('langcode', PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
+
+      // Initialize default property so callers have an easy reference and can
+      // save the same object without data loss.
+      foreach ($languages as $langcode => $info) {
+        $info['default'] = ($langcode == $default->langcode);
+        $languages[$langcode] = new Language($info);
+      }
     }
     else {
       // No language module, so use the default language only.
       $languages = array($default->langcode => $default);
     }
-
-    // Initialize default property so callers have an easy reference and can
-    // save the same object without data loss.
-    foreach ($languages as $langcode => $language) {
-      $languages[$langcode]->default = ($langcode == $default->langcode);
-    }
   }
 
   return $languages;
@@ -2734,18 +2736,23 @@ function language_name($langcode) {
 /**
  * Returns the default language used on the site.
  *
+ *
  * @return
  *   A language object.
  */
 function language_default() {
-  $default = variable_get('language_default', (object) array(
+  $info = variable_get('language_default', array(
     'langcode' => 'en',
     'name' => 'English',
     'direction' => 0,
     'weight' => 0,
   ));
-  $default->default = TRUE;
-  return $default;
+  $info['default'] = TRUE;
+  $languages = &drupal_static(__FUNCTION__);
+  if (!isset($languages[$info['langcode']])) {
+    $languages[$info['langcode']] = new Language($info);
+  }
+  return $languages[$info['langcode']];
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/core/includes/update.inc b/core/includes/update.inc
index f711507..65cbcf4 100644
--- a/core/includes/update.inc
+++ b/core/includes/update.inc
@@ -218,7 +218,10 @@ function update_prepare_d8_language() {
         unset($language_default->language);
       }
       unset($language_default->enabled);
-      variable_set('language_default', $language_default);
+      // In D8, the 'language_default' is not anymore an object, but an array,
+      // so make sure that the new value that is saved into this variable is an
+      // array.
+      variable_set('language_default', (array) $language_default);
     }
   }
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/language/language.module b/core/modules/language/language.module
index 7acc783..c8162c8 100644
--- a/core/modules/language/language.module
+++ b/core/modules/language/language.module
@@ -184,7 +184,7 @@ function language_save($language) {
   if (!empty($language->default)) {
     // Set the new version of this language as default in a variable.
     $default_language = language_default();
-    variable_set('language_default', $language);
+    variable_set('language_default', (array) $language);
   }
 
   // Update language count based on enabled language count.
diff --git a/core/modules/language/lib/Drupal/language/Tests/LanguageDependencyInjectionTest.php b/core/modules/language/lib/Drupal/language/Tests/LanguageDependencyInjectionTest.php
index e000531..8f0f90b 100644
--- a/core/modules/language/lib/Drupal/language/Tests/LanguageDependencyInjectionTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/language/lib/Drupal/language/Tests/LanguageDependencyInjectionTest.php
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class LanguageDependencyInjectionTest extends WebTestBase {
     // Initialize the language system.
     drupal_language_initialize();
 
-    $expected = new Language((array) language_default());
+    $expected = language_default();
     $result = drupal_container()->get(LANGUAGE_TYPE_INTERFACE);
     foreach ($expected as $property => $value) {
       $this->assertEqual($expected->$property, $result->$property, t('The dependency injected language object %prop property equals the new Language object %prop property.', array('%prop' => $property)));
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ class LanguageDependencyInjectionTest extends WebTestBase {
    */
   function testDependencyInjectedNewDefaultLanguage() {
     // Change the language default object to different values.
-    $new_language_default = (object) array(
+    $new_language_default = array(
       'langcode' => 'fr',
       'name' => 'French',
       'direction' => 0,
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ class LanguageDependencyInjectionTest extends WebTestBase {
     $expected = $new_language_default;
     $result = drupal_container()->get(LANGUAGE_TYPE_INTERFACE);
     foreach ($expected as $property => $value) {
-      $this->assertEqual($expected->$property, $result->$property, t('The dependency injected language object %prop property equals the default language object %prop property.', array('%prop' => $property)));
+      $this->assertEqual($expected[$property], $result->$property, t('The dependency injected language object %prop property equals the default language object %prop property.', array('%prop' => $property)));
     }
 
     // Delete the language_default variable we previously set.
diff --git a/core/modules/language/lib/Drupal/language/Tests/LanguageUILanguageNegotiationTest.php b/core/modules/language/lib/Drupal/language/Tests/LanguageUILanguageNegotiationTest.php
index 3495548..bc50f02 100644
--- a/core/modules/language/lib/Drupal/language/Tests/LanguageUILanguageNegotiationTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/language/lib/Drupal/language/Tests/LanguageUILanguageNegotiationTest.php
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ class LanguageUILanguageNegotiationTest extends WebTestBase {
     // be some bug.
     drupal_static_reset('language_list');
     $languages = language_list();
-    variable_set('language_default', $languages['vi']);
+    variable_set('language_default', (array) $languages['vi']);
     // First visit this page to make sure our target string is searchable.
     $this->drupalGet('admin/config');
     // Now the t()'ed string is in db so switch the language back to default.