diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
index 66308e3..e7ce556 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -331,8 +331,6 @@ function system_requirements($phase) {
     $threshold_warning = $cron_config->get('threshold.requirements_warning');
     // Cron error threshold defaults to two weeks.
     $threshold_error = $cron_config->get('threshold.requirements_error');
-    // Cron configuration help text.
-    $help = t('For more information, see the online handbook entry for <a href="@cron-handbook">configuring cron jobs</a>.', array('@cron-handbook' => 'https://www.drupal.org/cron'));
 
     // Determine when cron last ran.
     $cron_last = \Drupal::state()->get('system.cron_last');
@@ -351,23 +349,20 @@ function system_requirements($phase) {
 
     // Set summary and description based on values determined above.
     $summary = t('Last run !time ago', array('!time' => \Drupal::service('date.formatter')->formatInterval(REQUEST_TIME - $cron_last)));
-    $description = '';
-    if ($severity != REQUIREMENT_INFO) {
-      $description = t('Cron has not run recently.') . ' ' . $help;
+    if ($severity == REQUIREMENT_INFO) {
+      $line_one = t('You can <a href="@cron">run cron manually</a>.', array('@cron' => \Drupal::url('system.run_cron')));
     }
-
-    $description .= ' ' . t('You can <a href="@cron">run cron manually</a>.', array('@cron' => \Drupal::url('system.run_cron')));
-    $description .= '<br />' . t('To run cron from outside the site, go to <a href="!cron">!cron</a>', array('!cron' => \Drupal::url('system.cron', array('key' => \Drupal::state()->get('system.cron_key'), array('absolute' => TRUE)))));
+    else {
+      $line_one = t('Cron has not run recently. For more information, see the online handbook entry for <a href="@cron-handbook">configuring cron jobs</a>. You can <a href="@cron">run cron manually</a>.', array('@cron-handbook' => 'https://www.drupal.org/cron', '@cron' => \Drupal::url('system.run_cron')));
+    }
+    $line_two = t('To run cron from outside the site, go to <a href="@cron">@cron</a>', array('@cron' => \Drupal::url('system.cron', array('key' => \Drupal::state()->get('system.cron_key')), array('absolute' => TRUE))));
+    $description = SafeMarkup::format('@line_one<br />@line_two', array('@line_one' => $line_one, '@line_two' => $line_two));
 
     $requirements['cron'] = array(
       'title' => t('Cron maintenance tasks'),
       'severity' => $severity,
       'value' => $summary,
-      // @todo This string is concatenated from t() calls, safe drupal_render()
-      //   output, whitespace, and <br /> tags, so is safe. However, as a best
-      //   practice, we should not use SafeMarkup::set() around a variable. Fix
-      //   in: https://www.drupal.org/node/2296929.
-      'description' => SafeMarkup::set($description),
+      'description' => $description,
     );
   }
   if ($phase != 'install') {