diff --git a/core/includes/pager.inc b/core/includes/pager.inc
index a33cb3c..ce68f2a 100644
--- a/core/includes/pager.inc
+++ b/core/includes/pager.inc
@@ -166,6 +166,21 @@ function template_preprocess_pager(&$variables) {
   $quantity = $variables['quantity'];
   global $pager_page_array, $pager_total;
 
+  // Nothing to do if there is only one page.
+  if ($pager_total[$element] <= 1) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  // Fill in default link labels.
+  $tags = &$variables['tags'];
+  $tags += array(
+    t('« first'),
+    t('‹ previous'),
+    '',
+    t('next ›'),
+    t('last »'),
+  );
+
   // Calculate various markers within this pager piece:
   // Middle is used to "center" pages around the current page.
   $pager_middle = ceil($quantity / 2);
@@ -197,44 +212,65 @@ function template_preprocess_pager(&$variables) {
   $li_previous = '';
   $li_next = '';
   $li_last = '';
+  $current_path = current_path();
 
   // Create the "first" and "previous" links if we are not on the first page.
   if ($pager_page_array[$element] > 0) {
     $li_first = array(
-      '#theme' => 'pager_link__first',
-      '#text' => (isset($tags[0]) ? $tags[0] : t('« first')),
-      '#page_new' => pager_load_array(0, $element, $pager_page_array),
+      '#theme' => 'link__pager__first',
+      '#text' => $tags[0],
+      '#path' => $current_path,
       '#element' => $element,
-      '#parameters' => $parameters,
-      '#attributes' => array('rel' => 'first'),
+      '#options' => array(
+        'query' => pager_query_add_page($parameters, $element, 0),
+        'attributes' => array(
+          'title' => t('Go to first page'),
+          'rel' => 'first',
+        ),
+      ),
     );
     $li_previous = array(
-      '#theme' => 'pager_link__previous',
-      '#text' => isset($tags[1]) ? $tags[1] : t('‹ previous'),
-      '#page_new' => pager_load_array($pager_page_array[$element] - 1, $element, $pager_page_array),
+      '#theme' => 'link__pager__previous',
+      '#text' => $tags[1],
+      '#path' => $current_path,
       '#element' => $element,
-      '#parameters' => $parameters,
-      '#attributes' => array('rel' => 'prev'),
+      '#options' => array(
+        'query' => pager_query_add_page($parameters, $element, $pager_page_array[$element] - 1),
+        'attributes' => array(
+          'title' => t('Go to previous page'),
+          'rel' => 'prev',
+        ),
+      ),
     );
   }
 
   // Create the "last" and "next" links if we are not on the last page.
   if ($pager_page_array[$element] < ($pager_total[$element] - 1)) {
     $li_next = array(
-      '#theme' => 'pager_link__next',
-      '#text' => isset($tags[3]) ? $tags[3] : t('next ›'),
-      '#page_new' => pager_load_array($pager_page_array[$element] + 1, $element, $pager_page_array),
+      '#theme' => 'link__pager__next',
+      '#text' => $tags[3],
+      '#path' => $current_path,
       '#element' => $element,
-      '#parameters' => $parameters,
-      '#attributes' => array('rel' => 'next'),
+      '#options' => array(
+        'query' => pager_query_add_page($parameters, $element, $pager_page_array[$element] + 1),
+        'attributes' => array(
+          'title' => t('Go to next page'),
+          'rel' => 'next',
+        ),
+      ),
     );
     $li_last = array(
-      '#theme' => 'pager_link__last',
-      '#text' => (isset($tags[4]) ? $tags[4] : t('last »')),
-      '#page_new' => pager_load_array($pager_total[$element] - 1, $element, $pager_page_array),
+      '#theme' => 'link__pager__last',
+      '#text' => $tags[4],
+      '#path' => $current_path,
       '#element' => $element,
-      '#parameters' => $parameters,
-      '#attributes' => array('rel' => 'last'),
+      '#options' => array(
+        'query' => pager_query_add_page($parameters, $element, $pager_total[$element] - 1),
+        'attributes' => array(
+          'title' => t('Go to last page'),
+          'rel' => 'last',
+        ),
+      ),
     );
   }
 
@@ -266,12 +302,19 @@ function template_preprocess_pager(&$variables) {
           $items[] = array(
             '#wrapper_attributes' => array('class' => array('pager-item')),
             'link' => array(
-              '#theme' => 'pager_link',
+              '#theme' => 'link__pager',
               '#text' => $i,
-              '#page_new' => pager_load_array($i - 1, $element, $pager_page_array),
+              '#path' => $current_path,
+              '#options' => array(
+                'query' => pager_query_add_page($parameters, $element, $i - 1),
+                'attributes' => array(
+                  'title' => t('Go to page @number', array('@number' => $i)),
+                ),
+              ),
               '#element' => $element,
+              // Specify how many pages are between this item and the current page.
+              // Ignored by default, supplied for alternative implementations.
               '#interval' => ($pager_current - $i),
-              '#parameters' => $parameters,
             ),
           );
         }
@@ -285,16 +328,24 @@ function template_preprocess_pager(&$variables) {
           $items[] = array(
             '#wrapper_attributes' => array('class' => array('pager-item')),
             'link' => array(
-              '#theme' => 'pager_link',
+              '#theme' => 'link__pager',
               '#text' => $i,
-              '#page_new' => pager_load_array($i - 1, $element, $pager_page_array),
+              '#path' => $current_path,
+              '#options' => array(
+                'query' => pager_query_add_page($parameters, $element, $i - 1),
+                'attributes' => array(
+                  'title' => t('Go to page @number', array('@number' => $i)),
+                ),
+              ),
               '#element' => $element,
+              // Specify how many pages are between this item and the current page.
+              // Ignored by default, supplied for alternative implementations.
               '#interval' => ($i - $pager_current),
-              '#parameters' => $parameters,
             ),
           );
         }
       }
+      // Check whether there are further next pages.
       if ($i < $pager_max) {
         $items[] = array(
           '#wrapper_attributes' => array('class' => array('pager-ellipsis')),
@@ -325,67 +376,36 @@ function template_preprocess_pager(&$variables) {
 }
 
 /**
- * Prepares variables for pager link templates.
+ * Adds the 'page' parameter to the query parameter array of a pager link.
  *
- * Default template: pager-link.html.twig.
+ * @param array $query
+ *   An associative array of query parameters to add to.
+ * @param integer $element
+ *   An integer to distinguish between multiple pagers on one page.
+ * @param integer $index
+ *   The index of the target page in the pager array.
  *
- * @param array $variables
- *   An associative array containing:
- *   - text: The link text. Also used to figure out the title attribute of the
- *     link, if it is not provided in $variables['attributes']['title']; in
- *     this case, $variables['text'] must be one of the standard pager link
- *     text strings that would be generated by the pager theme functions, such
- *     as a number or t('« first').
- *   - page_new: The first result to display on the linked page.
- *   - element: An optional integer to distinguish between multiple pagers on
- *     one page.
- *   - parameters: An associative array of query string parameters to append to
- *     the pager link.
- *   - attributes: An associative array of HTML attributes to apply to the
- *     pager link.
+ * @return array
+ *   The altered $query parameter array.
  *
- * @see template_preprocess_pager()
+ * @todo Document the pager/element/index architecture and logic. It is not
+ *   clear what is happening in this function as well as pager_load_array(),
+ *   and whether this can be simplified in any way.
  */
-function template_preprocess_pager_link(&$variables) {
-  $text = $variables['text'];
-  $page_new = $variables['page_new'];
-  $element = $variables['element'];
-  $parameters = $variables['parameters'];
-  $attributes = $variables['attributes'];
+function pager_query_add_page(array $query, $element, $index) {
+  global $pager_page_array;
+
+  // Determine the first result to display on the linked page.
+  $page_new = pager_load_array($index, $element, $pager_page_array);
 
   $page = isset($_GET['page']) ? $_GET['page'] : '';
   if ($new_page = implode(',', pager_load_array($page_new[$element], $element, explode(',', $page)))) {
-    $parameters['page'] = $new_page;
-  }
-
-  $query = array();
-  if (count($parameters)) {
-    $query = drupal_get_query_parameters($parameters, array());
+    $query['page'] = $new_page;
   }
   if ($query_pager = pager_get_query_parameters()) {
     $query = array_merge($query, $query_pager);
   }
-
-  // Set each pager link title
-  if (!isset($attributes['title'])) {
-    static $titles = NULL;
-    if (!isset($titles)) {
-      $titles = array(
-        t('« first') => t('Go to first page'),
-        t('‹ previous') => t('Go to previous page'),
-        t('next ›') => t('Go to next page'),
-        t('last »') => t('Go to last page'),
-      );
-    }
-    if (isset($titles[$text])) {
-      $attributes['title'] = $titles[$text];
-    }
-    elseif (is_numeric($text)) {
-      $attributes['title'] = t('Go to page @number', array('@number' => $text));
-    }
-  }
-
-  $variables['link'] = l($text, current_path(), array('query' => $query, 'attributes' => $attributes));
+  return $query;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/core/includes/theme.inc b/core/includes/theme.inc
index 09c3460..15bb7df 100644
--- a/core/includes/theme.inc
+++ b/core/includes/theme.inc
@@ -3213,10 +3213,6 @@ function drupal_common_theme() {
       'variables' => array('tags' => array(), 'element' => 0, 'parameters' => array(), 'quantity' => 9),
       'template' => 'pager',
     ),
-    'pager_link' => array(
-      'variables' => array('text' => NULL, 'page_new' => NULL, 'element' => NULL, 'parameters' => array(), 'attributes' => array()),
-      'template' => 'pager-link',
-    ),
     // From menu.inc.
     'menu_link' => array(
       'render element' => 'element',
diff --git a/core/modules/search/search.pages.inc b/core/modules/search/search.pages.inc
index aed41f6..66ebdf2 100644
--- a/core/modules/search/search.pages.inc
+++ b/core/modules/search/search.pages.inc
@@ -96,10 +96,7 @@ function template_preprocess_search_results(&$variables) {
       '#module' => $variables['module'],
     );
   }
-  $variables['pager'] = array(
-    '#theme' => 'pager',
-    '#tags' => NULL,
-  );
+  $variables['pager'] = array('#theme' => 'pager');
   // @todo Revisit where this help text is added, see also
   //   http://drupal.org/node/1918856.
   $variables['help'] = search_help('search#noresults', drupal_help_arg());
diff --git a/core/modules/system/templates/pager-link.html.twig b/core/modules/system/templates/pager-link.html.twig
deleted file mode 100644
index 10fdb04..0000000
--- a/core/modules/system/templates/pager-link.html.twig
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,16 +0,0 @@
-{#
-/**
- * @file
- * Default theme implementation to display a pager link.
- *
- * Available variables:
- * - link: The pager link.
- *
- * @see template_preprocess()
- * @see template_preprocess_pager_link()
- *
- * @ingroup themeable
- */
- @todo Revisit this template after http://drupal.org/node/1595614 is resolved.
-#}
-{{ link }}
diff --git a/core/modules/user/user.admin.inc b/core/modules/user/user.admin.inc
index 7c04815..5149547 100644
--- a/core/modules/user/user.admin.inc
+++ b/core/modules/user/user.admin.inc
@@ -255,7 +255,7 @@ function user_admin_account() {
     '#options' => $options,
     '#empty' => t('No people available.'),
   );
-  $form['pager'] = array('#markup' => theme('pager'));
+  $form['pager'] = array('#theme' => 'pager');
 
   return $form;
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/views/views.theme.inc b/core/modules/views/views.theme.inc
index 12cc7cf..e2ab8dd 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/views.theme.inc
+++ b/core/modules/views/views.theme.inc
@@ -1144,31 +1144,37 @@ function theme_views_mini_pager($vars) {
 
   // Current is the page we are currently paged to.
   $pager_current = $pager_page_array[$element] + 1;
-  // End of marker calculations.
+  $current_path = current_path();
 
   $li_previous = array();
   if ($pager_total[$element] > 1 && $pager_page_array[$element] > 0) {
     $li_previous = array(
-      '#theme' => 'pager_link__previous',
+      '#theme' => 'link__pager__previous',
       '#text' => (isset($tags[1]) ? $tags[1] : t('‹‹')),
-      '#attributes' => array('title' => t('Go to previous page')),
-      '#page_new' => pager_load_array($pager_page_array[$element] - 1, $element, $pager_page_array),
-      '#element' => $element,
-      '#interval' => 1,
-      '#parameters' => $parameters,
+      '#path' => $current_path,
+      '#options' => array(
+        'query' => pager_query_add_page($parameters, $element, $pager_page_array[$element] - 1),
+        'attributes' => array(
+          'title' => t('Go to previous page'),
+          'rel' => 'prev',
+        ),
+      ),
     );
   }
 
   $li_next = array();
   if ($pager_page_array[$element] < ($pager_total[$element] - 1)) {
     $li_next = array(
-      '#theme' => 'pager_link__next',
+      '#theme' => 'link__pager__next',
       '#text' => (isset($tags[3]) ? $tags[3] : t('››')),
-      '#attributes' => array('title' => t('Go to next page')),
-      '#page_new' => pager_load_array($pager_page_array[$element] + 1, $element, $pager_page_array),
-      '#element' => $element,
-      '#interval' => 1,
-      '#parameters' => $parameters,
+      '#path' => $current_path,
+      '#options' => array(
+        'query' => pager_query_add_page($parameters, $element, $pager_page_array[$element] + 1),
+        'attributes' => array(
+          'title' => t('Go to next page'),
+          'rel' => 'next',
+        ),
+      ),
     );
   }
 
@@ -1186,7 +1192,7 @@ function theme_views_mini_pager($vars) {
   ) + $li_next;
 
   $item_list = array(
-    '#theme' => 'item_list',
+    '#theme' => 'item_list__pager',
     '#items' => $items,
     '#title' => NULL,
     '#type' => 'ul',