diff --git a/core/includes/pager.inc b/core/includes/pager.inc
index 57f860c..3189870 100644
--- a/core/includes/pager.inc
+++ b/core/includes/pager.inc
@@ -285,32 +285,38 @@ function template_preprocess_pager(&$variables) {
 }
 
 /**
- * Adds the 'page' parameter to the query parameter array of a pager link.
+ * Get the query parameter array of a pager link.
+ *
+ * Adds or adjusts the 'page' parameter to make sure that, following the link,
+ * the requested $page for the given $element is displayed.
+ * The 'page' parameter is a comma-delimited string, where each value is the
+ * target page for the corresponding pager $element.
  *
  * @param array $query
  *   An associative array of query parameters to add to.
  * @param integer $element
  *   An integer to distinguish between multiple pagers on one page.
  * @param integer $index
- *   The index of the target page in the pager array.
+ *   The index of the target page, for the given element, in the pager
+ *   array.
  *
  * @return array
  *   The altered $query parameter array.
- *
- * @todo Document the pager/element/index architecture and logic. It is not
- *   clear what is happening in this function as well as pager_load_array(),
- *   and whether this can be simplified in any way.
  */
 function pager_query_add_page(array $query, $element, $index) {
   global $pager_page_array;
 
-  // Determine the first result to display on the linked page.
-  $page_new = pager_load_array($index, $element, $pager_page_array);
-
-  $page = \Drupal::request()->query->get('page', '');
-  if ($new_page = implode(',', pager_load_array($page_new[$element], $element, explode(',', $page)))) {
-    $query['page'] = $new_page;
+  // Build the 'page' query parameter.
+  // This is built based on the current page of each pager element (or NULL
+  // if the pager is not set), with the exception of the requested page index
+  // for the current element.
+  $max_element = max(array_keys($pager_page_array));
+  $element_pages = [];
+  for ($i = 0; $i <= $max_element; $i++) {
+    $element_pages[] = ($i == $element) ? $index : (isset($pager_page_array[$i]) ? $pager_page_array[$i] : NULL);
   }
+  $query['page'] = implode(',', $element_pages);
+
   // Merge the query parameters passed to this function with the parameters
   // from the current request. In case of collision, the parameters passed
   // into this function take precedence.
@@ -319,23 +325,3 @@ function pager_query_add_page(array $query, $element, $index) {
   }
   return $query;
 }
-
-/**
- * Helper function
- *
- * Copies $old_array to $new_array and sets $new_array[$element] = $value
- * Fills in $new_array[0 .. $element - 1] = 0
- */
-function pager_load_array($value, $element, $old_array) {
-  $new_array = $old_array;
-  // Look for empty elements.
-  for ($i = 0; $i < $element; $i++) {
-    if (empty($new_array[$i])) {
-      // Load found empty element with 0.
-      $new_array[$i] = 0;
-    }
-  }
-  // Update the changed element.
-  $new_array[$element] = (int) $value;
-  return $new_array;
-}
diff --git a/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Pager/PagerTest.php b/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Pager/PagerTest.php
index 133c90c..1921df7 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Pager/PagerTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Pager/PagerTest.php
@@ -120,18 +120,28 @@ protected function assertPagerItems($current_page) {
       $next = array_pop($elements);
     }
 
+    // We remove elements from the $elements array in the following code, so
+    // we store the total number of pages for verifying the "last" link.
+    $total_pages = count($elements);
+
     // Verify items and links to pages.
     foreach ($elements as $page => $element) {
       // Make item/page index 1-based.
       $page++;
+
       if ($current_page == $page) {
         $this->assertClass($element, 'is-active', 'Element for current page has .is-active class.');
         $this->assertTrue($element->a, 'Element for current page has link.');
+        $destination = $element->a['href'][0]->__toString();
+        // URL query string param is 0-indexed.
+        $this->assertEqual($destination, '?page=' . ($page - 1));
       }
       else {
         $this->assertNoClass($element, 'is-active', "Element for page $page has no .is-active class.");
         $this->assertClass($element, 'pager__item', "Element for page $page has .pager__item class.");
         $this->assertTrue($element->a, "Link to page $page found.");
+        $destination = $element->a['href'][0]->__toString();
+        $this->assertEqual($destination, '?page=' . ($page - 1));
       }
       unset($elements[--$page]);
     }
@@ -143,21 +153,32 @@ protected function assertPagerItems($current_page) {
       $this->assertClass($first, 'pager__item--first', 'Element for first page has .pager__item--first class.');
       $this->assertTrue($first->a, 'Link to first page found.');
       $this->assertNoClass($first->a, 'is-active', 'Link to first page is not active.');
+      $destination = $first->a['href'][0]->__toString();
+      $this->assertEqual($destination, '?page=0');
     }
     if (isset($previous)) {
       $this->assertClass($previous, 'pager__item--previous', 'Element for first page has .pager__item--previous class.');
       $this->assertTrue($previous->a, 'Link to previous page found.');
       $this->assertNoClass($previous->a, 'is-active', 'Link to previous page is not active.');
+      $destination = $previous->a['href'][0]->__toString();
+      // URL query string param is 0-indexed, $current_page is 1-indexed.
+      $this->assertEqual($destination, '?page=' . ($current_page - 2));
     }
     if (isset($next)) {
       $this->assertClass($next, 'pager__item--next', 'Element for next page has .pager__item--next class.');
       $this->assertTrue($next->a, 'Link to next page found.');
       $this->assertNoClass($next->a, 'is-active', 'Link to next page is not active.');
+      $destination = $next->a['href'][0]->__toString();
+      // URL query string param is 0-indexed, $current_page is 1-indexed.
+      $this->assertEqual($destination, '?page=' . $current_page);
     }
     if (isset($last)) {
       $this->assertClass($last, 'pager__item--last', 'Element for last page has .pager__item--last class.');
       $this->assertTrue($last->a, 'Link to last page found.');
       $this->assertNoClass($last->a, 'is-active', 'Link to last page is not active.');
+      $destination = $last->a['href'][0]->__toString();
+      // URL query string param is 0-indexed.
+      $this->assertEqual($destination, '?page=' . ($total_pages - 1));
     }
   }