diff --git a/core/misc/ajax.js b/core/misc/ajax.js
index 09621b2..5b69e67 100644
--- a/core/misc/ajax.js
+++ b/core/misc/ajax.js
@@ -455,16 +455,16 @@
       if (this.progress.url) {
         progressBar.startMonitoring(this.progress.url, this.progress.interval || 1500);
       }
-      this.progress.element = $(progressBar.element).addClass('ajax-progress ajax-progress-bar');
+      this.progress.$element = progressBar.$element.addClass('ajax-progress ajax-progress-bar');
       this.progress.object = progressBar;
-      $(this.element).after(this.progress.element);
+      $(this.element).after(this.progress.$element);
     }
     else if (this.progress.type === 'throbber') {
-      this.progress.element = $('<div class="ajax-progress ajax-progress-throbber"><div class="throbber">&nbsp;</div></div>');
+      this.progress.$element = $('<div class="ajax-progress ajax-progress-throbber"><div class="throbber">&nbsp;</div></div>');
       if (this.progress.message) {
-        this.progress.element.find('.throbber').after('<div class="message">' + this.progress.message + '</div>');
+        this.progress.$element.find('.throbber').after('<div class="message">' + this.progress.message + '</div>');
       }
-      $(this.element).after(this.progress.element);
+      $(this.element).after(this.progress.$element);
     }
   };
 
@@ -473,8 +473,8 @@
    */
   Drupal.ajax.prototype.success = function (response, status) {
     // Remove the progress element.
-    if (this.progress.element) {
-      $(this.progress.element).remove();
+    if (this.progress.$element) {
+      $(this.progress.$element).remove();
     }
     if (this.progress.object) {
       this.progress.object.stopMonitoring();
@@ -533,8 +533,8 @@
    */
   Drupal.ajax.prototype.error = function (response, uri) {
     // Remove the progress element.
-    if (this.progress.element) {
-      $(this.progress.element).remove();
+    if (this.progress.$element) {
+      $(this.progress.$element).remove();
     }
     if (this.progress.object) {
       this.progress.object.stopMonitoring();
diff --git a/core/misc/batch.js b/core/misc/batch.js
index ee6cf68..895f331 100644
--- a/core/misc/batch.js
+++ b/core/misc/batch.js
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
         // Remove HTML from no-js progress bar.
         $progress.empty();
         // Append the JS progressbar element.
-        $progress.append(progressBar.element);
+        $progress.append(progressBar.$element);
       }
     }
   };
diff --git a/core/misc/progress.js b/core/misc/progress.js
index e54c26d..f0ed5fa 100644
--- a/core/misc/progress.js
+++ b/core/misc/progress.js
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@
 
   /**
    * A progressbar object. Initialized with the given id. Must be inserted into
-   * the DOM afterwards through progressBar.element.
+   * the DOM afterwards through ProgressBar.$element.
    *
    * method is the function which will perform the HTTP request to get the
    * progress bar state. Either "GET" or "POST".
    *
    * e.g. pb = new Drupal.ProgressBar('myProgressBar');
-   *      some_element.appendChild(pb.element);
+   *      some_element.appendChild(pb.$element);
    */
   Drupal.ProgressBar = function (id, updateCallback, method, errorCallback) {
     this.id = id;
@@ -20,11 +20,19 @@
 
     // The WAI-ARIA setting aria-live="polite" will announce changes after users
     // have completed their current activity and not interrupt the screen reader.
-    this.element = $('<div class="progress" aria-live="polite"></div>').attr('id', id);
-    this.element.html('<div class="progress__label">&nbsp;</div>' +
-      '<div class="progress__track"><div class="progress__bar"></div></div>' +
-      '<div class="progress__percentage"></div>' +
-      '<div class="progress__description">&nbsp;</div>');
+    this.$element = $('<div class="progress" aria-live="polite"></div>').attr('id', id);
+    this.$progressLabel = $('<div class="progress__label">&nbsp;</div>');
+    this.$progressTrack = $('<div class="progress__track"><div class="progress__bar"></div></div>');
+    this.$progressPercentage = $('<div class="progress__percentage">&nbsp;</div>');
+    this.$progressDescription = $('<div class="progress__description">&nbsp;</div>');
+    this.$progressBar = this.$progressTrack.children();
+
+    this.$element
+      .append(this.$progressLabel)
+      .append(this.$progressTrack)
+      .append(this.$progressPercentage)
+      .append(this.$progressDescription);
+
   };
 
   $.extend(Drupal.ProgressBar.prototype, {
@@ -33,11 +41,11 @@
      */
     setProgress: function (percentage, message, label) {
       if (percentage >= 0 && percentage <= 100) {
-        $(this.element).find('div.progress__bar').css('width', percentage + '%');
-        $(this.element).find('div.progress__percentage').html(percentage + '%');
+        this.$progressBar.css('width', percentage + '%');
+        this.$progressPercentage.html(percentage + '%');
       }
-      $('div.progress__description', this.element).html(message);
-      $('div.progress__label', this.element).html(label);
+      this.$progressDescription.html(message);
+      this.$progressLabel.html(label);
       if (this.updateCallback) {
         this.updateCallback(percentage, message, this);
       }
@@ -100,8 +108,8 @@
      * Display errors on the page.
      */
     displayError: function (string) {
-      var error = $('<div class="messages messages--error"></div>').html(string);
-      $(this.element).before(error).hide();
+      var errorMarkup = '<div class="messages messages--error">' + string + '</div>';
+      this.$element.before(errorMarkup).hide();
 
       if (this.errorCallback) {
         this.errorCallback(this);