diff --git a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Plugin/views/area/ListingEmpty.php b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Plugin/views/area/ListingEmpty.php
index 3334be8..110ae93 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Plugin/views/area/ListingEmpty.php
+++ b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Plugin/views/area/ListingEmpty.php
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ public function render($empty = FALSE) {
       );
       return $element;
     }
+    return array();
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Broken.php b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Broken.php
index c9d70c0..39fc9d0 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Broken.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Broken.php
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ public function query($group_by = FALSE) { /* No query to run */ }
    * Implements \Drupal\views\Plugin\views\area\AreaPluginBase::render().
    */
   public function render($empty = FALSE) {
-    // Simply render nothing by returning an empty array.
+    // Simply render nothing by returning an empty render array.
     return array();
   }
   public function buildOptionsForm(&$form, &$form_state) {
diff --git a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Entity.php b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Entity.php
index db5a40c..200cecb 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Entity.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Entity.php
@@ -103,13 +103,11 @@ function render($empty = FALSE) {
       }
       $entity_id = $this->globalTokenReplace($entity_id);
       if ($entity = entity_load($this->entityType, $entity_id)) {
-        $build = entity_view($entity, $this->options['view_mode']);
-        // @todo Support to just return a render array.
-        return drupal_render($build);
+        return entity_view($entity, $this->options['view_mode']);
       }
     }
 
-    return '';
+    return array();
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Result.php b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Result.php
index 99e3462..67bd9c7 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Result.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Result.php
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@ public function buildOptionsForm(&$form, &$form_state) {
   function render($empty = FALSE) {
     // Must have options and does not work on summaries.
     if (!isset($this->options['content']) || $this->view->plugin_name == 'default_summary') {
-      return;
+      return array();
     }
     $output = '';
     $format = $this->options['content'];
diff --git a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Title.php b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Title.php
index 67c9603..61cb8e0 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Title.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/Title.php
@@ -62,7 +62,8 @@ public function preRender(array $results) {
    * Implements \Drupal\views\Plugin\views\area\AreaPluginBase::render().
    */
   public function render($empty = FALSE) {
-    // Do nothing for this handler.
+    // Do nothing for this handler by returning an empty render array.
+    return array();
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/View.php b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/View.php
index 32653dc..f4eba6a 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/View.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Plugin/views/area/View.php
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ function render($empty = FALSE) {
 
       $view = views_get_view($view_name);
       if (empty($view) || !$view->access($display_id)) {
-        return;
+        return array();
       }
       $view->setDisplay($display_id);
 
diff --git a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Tests/Handler/AreaTextTest.php b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Tests/Handler/AreaTextTest.php
index 525f327..8205798 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Tests/Handler/AreaTextTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/lib/Drupal/views/Tests/Handler/AreaTextTest.php
@@ -58,16 +58,16 @@ public function testAreaText() {
     $this->executeView($view);
 
     $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->options['format'] = $this->randomString();
-    $this->assertEqual(NULL, $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->render(), 'Non existant format should return nothing');
+    $this->assertEqual(array('#markup' => ''), $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->render(), 'Non existant format should return empty markup.');
 
     $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->options['format'] = filter_default_format();
-    $this->assertEqual(check_markup($string), $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->render(), 'Existant format should return something');
+    $this->assertEqual(array('#markup' => check_markup($string)), $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->render(), 'Existant format should return something');
 
     // Empty results, and it shouldn't be displayed .
-    $this->assertEqual('', $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->render(TRUE), 'No result should lead to no header');
+    $this->assertEqual(array(), $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->render(TRUE), 'No result should lead to no header');
     // Empty results, and it should be displayed.
     $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->options['empty'] = TRUE;
-    $this->assertEqual(check_markup($string), $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->render(TRUE), 'No result, but empty enabled lead to a full header');
+    $this->assertEqual(array('#markup' => check_markup($string)), $view->display_handler->handlers['header']['area']->render(TRUE), 'No result, but empty enabled lead to a full header');
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/views/tests/views_test_data/lib/Drupal/views_test_data/Plugin/views/area/TestExample.php b/core/modules/views/tests/views_test_data/lib/Drupal/views_test_data/Plugin/views/area/TestExample.php
index 3e43bc8..38ec004 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/tests/views_test_data/lib/Drupal/views_test_data/Plugin/views/area/TestExample.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/tests/views_test_data/lib/Drupal/views_test_data/Plugin/views/area/TestExample.php
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@ public function render($empty = FALSE) {
         '#markup' => $this->globalTokenReplace($this->options['string']),
       );
     }
+    return array();
   }
 
 }