diff --git a/core/modules/node/config/search.plugin.node_search.yml b/core/modules/node/config/search.plugin.node_search.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..102d659
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/modules/node/config/search.plugin.node_search.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+rank:
+  promote: 0
+  recent: 0
+  relevance: 0
+  sticky: 0
diff --git a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Plugin/Search/NodeSearch.php b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Plugin/Search/NodeSearch.php
index 0dbd1ac..e68273a 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Plugin/Search/NodeSearch.php
+++ b/core/modules/node/lib/Drupal/node/Plugin/Search/NodeSearch.php
@@ -272,8 +272,8 @@ protected function addNodeRankings(SelectExtender $query) {
     if ($ranking = $this->moduleHandler->invokeAll('ranking')) {
       $tables = &$query->getTables();
       foreach ($ranking as $rank => $values) {
-        // @todo - move rank out of drupal variables.
-        if ($node_rank = variable_get('node_rank_' . $rank, 0)) {
+        $node_rank = \Drupal::config('search.plugin.node_search')->get('rank.' . $rank);
+        if (!empty($node_rank)) {
           // If the table defined in the ranking isn't already joined, then add it.
           if (isset($values['join']) && !isset($tables[$values['join']['alias']])) {
             $query->addJoin($values['join']['type'], $values['join']['table'], $values['join']['alias'], $values['join']['on']);
@@ -535,7 +535,9 @@ public function buildConfigurationForm(array $form, array &$form_state) {
         '#title' => $values['title'],
         '#type' => 'select',
         '#options' => $options,
-        '#default_value' => variable_get('node_rank_' . $var, 0),
+        // We shouldn't really provide a default in this way, but the current
+        // architecture doesn't allow us to specify all defaults in .yml files.
+        '#default_value' => \Drupal::config('search.plugin.node_search')->get('rank.' . $var) ?: 0,
       );
     }
     return $form;
@@ -551,12 +553,14 @@ public function validateConfigurationForm(array &$form, array &$form_state) {
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function submitConfigurationForm(array &$form, array &$form_state) {
-    foreach ($this->moduleHandler->invokeAll('ranking') as $var => $values) {
-      if (isset($form_state['values']['node_rank_' . $var])) {
-        // @todo Fix when https://drupal.org/node/1831632 is in.
-        variable_set('node_rank_' . $var, $form_state['values']['node_rank_' . $var]);
-      }
+    $config = \Drupal::config('search.plugin.node_search');
+    $rank = array();
+    foreach (array_keys($this->moduleHandler->invokeAll('ranking')) as $var) {
+      $rank[$var] = intval($form_state['values']['node_rank_' . $var]);
     }
+    ksort($rank);
+    $config->set('rank', $rank);
+    $config->save();
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/node/node.install b/core/modules/node/node.install
index b240ecc..1a8f55f 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/node.install
+++ b/core/modules/node/node.install
@@ -450,12 +450,6 @@ function node_uninstall() {
     \Drupal::config('language.settings')->clear('node. ' . $type . '.language.default_configuration')->save();
   }
 
-  // Delete node search ranking variables.
-  variable_del('node_rank_relevance');
-  variable_del('node_rank_sticky');
-  variable_del('node_rank_promote');
-  variable_del('node_rank_recent');
-
   // Delete remaining general module variables.
   \Drupal::state()->delete('node.node_access_needs_rebuild');
   variable_del('node_recent_block_count');
diff --git a/core/modules/search/lib/Drupal/search/Tests/SearchRankingTest.php b/core/modules/search/lib/Drupal/search/Tests/SearchRankingTest.php
index bb4e6ba..8682cd5 100644
--- a/core/modules/search/lib/Drupal/search/Tests/SearchRankingTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/search/lib/Drupal/search/Tests/SearchRankingTest.php
@@ -114,10 +114,13 @@ public function testRankings() {
     array_pop($node_ranks);
     array_pop($node_ranks);
     foreach ($node_ranks as $node_rank) {
+      $config = \Drupal::config('search.plugin.node_search');
       // Disable all relevancy rankings except the one we are testing.
       foreach ($node_ranks as $var) {
-        variable_set('node_rank_' . $var, $var == $node_rank ? 10 : 0);
+        $config->set('rank.' . $var, $var == $node_rank ? 10 : 0);
       }
+      $config->save();
+      $this->nodeSearchPlugin = $this->container->get('plugin.manager.search')->createInstance('node_search');
       // Do the search and assert the results.
       $this->nodeSearchPlugin->setSearch('rocks', array(), array());
       $set = $this->nodeSearchPlugin->execute();
@@ -172,9 +175,12 @@ public function testHTMLRankings() {
 
     // Disable all other rankings.
     $node_ranks = array('sticky', 'promote', 'recent', 'comments', 'views');
+    $config = \Drupal::config('search.plugin.node_search');
     foreach ($node_ranks as $node_rank) {
-      variable_set('node_rank_' . $node_rank, 0);
+      $config->set('rank.' . $node_rank, 0);
     }
+    $config->save();
+    $this->nodeSearchPlugin = $this->container->get('plugin.manager.search')->createInstance('node_search');
     $this->nodeSearchPlugin->setSearch('rocks', array(), array());
     // Do the search and assert the results.
     $set = $this->nodeSearchPlugin->execute();
@@ -245,11 +251,13 @@ function testDoubleRankings() {
     // Set up for ranking sticky and lots of comments; make sure others are
     // disabled.
     $node_ranks = array('sticky', 'promote', 'relevance', 'recent', 'comments', 'views');
+    $config = \Drupal::config('search.plugin.node_search');
     foreach ($node_ranks as $var) {
       $value = ($var == 'sticky' || $var == 'comments') ? 10 : 0;
-      variable_set('node_rank_' . $var, $value);
+      $config->set('rank.' . $var, $value);
     }
-
+    $config->save();
+    $this->nodeSearchPlugin = $this->container->get('plugin.manager.search')->createInstance('node_search');
     // Do the search and assert the results.
     $this->nodeSearchPlugin->setSearch('rocks', array(), array());
     // Do the search and assert the results.
diff --git a/core/modules/system/tests/upgrade/drupal-7.system.database.php b/core/modules/system/tests/upgrade/drupal-7.system.database.php
index f15d406..836a828 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/tests/upgrade/drupal-7.system.database.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/tests/upgrade/drupal-7.system.database.php
@@ -163,6 +163,30 @@
     'name' => 'aggregator_summary_items',
     'value' => 'i:5;',
   ))
+  ->values(array(
+    'name' => 'node_rank_comments',
+    'value' => 'i:-2;',
+  ))
+  ->values(array(
+    'name' => 'node_rank_promote',
+    'value' => 'i:10;',
+  ))
+  ->values(array(
+    'name' => 'node_rank_recent',
+    'value' => 'i:2;',
+  ))
+  ->values(array(
+    'name' => 'node_rank_relevance',
+    'value' => 'i:8;',
+  ))
+  ->values(array(
+    'name' => 'node_rank_sticky',
+    'value' => 'i:3;',
+  ))
+  ->values(array(
+    'name' => 'node_rank_views',
+    'value' => 'i:5;',
+  ))
   ->execute();
 
 db_update('variable')