diff -u b/core/includes/pager.inc b/core/includes/pager.inc
--- b/core/includes/pager.inc
+++ b/core/includes/pager.inc
@@ -370,13 +370,13 @@
   if ($variables['first']) {
     $items[] = array(
       '#wrapper_attributes' => array('class' => array('pager-first')),
-      '#markup' => $variables['first'],
+      '#markup' => drupal_render($variables['first']),
     );
   }
   if ($variables['previous']) {
     $items[] = array(
       '#wrapper_attributes' => array('class' => array('pager-previous')),
-      '#markup' => $variables['previous'],
+      '#markup' => drupal_render($variables['previous']),
     );
   }
 
@@ -384,14 +384,14 @@
   if ($variables['less']) {
     $items[] = array(
       '#wrapper_attributes' => array('class' => array('pager-ellipsis')),
-      '#markup' => $variables['less'],
+      '#markup' => drupal_render($variables['less']),
     );
   }
   foreach ($variables['items'] as $index => $item) {
     if ($index != $variables['current_index']) {
       $items[] = array(
         '#wrapper_attributes' => array('class' => array('pager-item')),
-        '#markup' => $item,
+        '#markup' => drupal_render($item),
       );
     }
     else {
@@ -412,13 +412,13 @@
   if ($variables['next']) {
     $items[] = array(
       '#wrapper_attributes' => array('class' => array('pager-next')),
-      '#markup' => $variables['next'],
+      '#markup' => drupal_render($variables['next']),
     );
   }
   if ($variables['last']) {
     $items[] = array(
       '#wrapper_attributes' => array('class' => array('pager-last')),
-      '#markup' => $variables['last'],
+      '#markup' => drupal_render($variables['last']),
     );
   }