diff --git a/core/modules/user/user.module b/core/modules/user/user.module
index 51b1099..68dcf5a 100644
--- a/core/modules/user/user.module
+++ b/core/modules/user/user.module
@@ -796,7 +796,7 @@ function template_preprocess_username(&$variables) {
   // We do not want the l() function to check_plain() a second time.
   $variables['link_options']['html'] = TRUE;
   // Set a default class.
-  $variables['attributes'] = new Attribute(array('class' => array('username')));
+  $variables['attributes'] = array('class' => array('username'));
 }
 
 /**
@@ -819,8 +819,7 @@ function template_process_username(&$variables) {
     // This purposefully does not use
     // \Drupal\Component\Utility\NestedArray::mergeDeep() for performance
     // reasons, since it is potentially called very often.
-    $attributes = (array) $variables['attributes'];
-    $variables['link_options']['attributes'] = new Attribute(array_merge_recursive($variables['link_attributes'], $attributes));
+    $variables['link_options']['attributes'] = new Attribute(array_merge_recursive($variables['link_attributes'], $variables['attributes']));
     $variables['link'] = array(
       '#theme' => 'link',
       '#text' => $variables['name'] . $variables['extra'],
@@ -828,6 +827,8 @@ function template_process_username(&$variables) {
       '#options' => $variables['link_options'],
     );
   }
+
+  $variables['attributes'] = new Attribute($variables['attributes']);
 }
 
 /**