diff -u b/core/core.services.yml b/core/core.services.yml
--- b/core/core.services.yml
+++ b/core/core.services.yml
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@
       - [setContainer, ['@service_container']]
   cache.backend.database:
     class: Drupal\Core\Cache\DatabaseBackendFactory
-    arguments: ['@database', '@cache_tags.invalidator.checksum', '@serialization.objectaware.default']
+    arguments: ['@database', '@cache_tags.invalidator.checksum', '@serialization.phpserialize']
   cache.backend.apcu:
     class: Drupal\Core\Cache\ApcuBackendFactory
     arguments: ['@app.root', '@site.path', '@cache_tags.invalidator.checksum']
@@ -421,8 +421,6 @@
     class: Drupal\Component\Serialization\PhpSerialize
   serialization.yaml:
     class: Drupal\Component\Serialization\Yaml
-  serialization.objectaware.default:
-    alias: serialization.phpserialize
 
   settings:
     class: Drupal\Core\Site\Settings
diff -u b/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Serialization/ObjectAwareSerializationInterface.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Serialization/ObjectAwareSerializationInterface.php
--- b/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Serialization/ObjectAwareSerializationInterface.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Serialization/ObjectAwareSerializationInterface.php
@@ -4,6 +4,13 @@
 
 /**
  * Ensures that a serializer is usable for serializing PHP objects.
+ *
+ * Other Serializers that implement the SerializationInterface, for example
+ * serializers that use JSON or YAML, are suitable for different PHP types
+ * except objects. Serializers that implement the
+ * ObjectAwareSerializationInterface instead are clearly indicating that they're
+ * suitable for PHP objects, for example using the PHP string serilization
+ * format or the igbinary format.
  */
 interface ObjectAwareSerializationInterface extends SerializationInterface {
 }
diff -u b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackend.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackend.php
--- b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackend.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackend.php
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@
   protected $bin;
 
   /**
-   * The serialization class to use.
+   * The serializer to use.
    *
    * @var \Drupal\Component\Serialization\ObjectAwareSerializationInterface
    */
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
    * @param string $bin
    *   The cache bin for which the object is created.
    * @param \Drupal\Component\Serialization\ObjectAwareSerializationInterface $serializer
-   *   The serialization class to use.
+   *   The serializer to use.
    */
   public function __construct(Connection $connection, CacheTagsChecksumInterface $checksum_provider, $bin, ObjectAwareSerializationInterface $serializer = NULL) {
     // All cache tables should be prefixed with 'cache_'.
@@ -62,7 +62,7 @@
     $this->bin = $bin;
     $this->connection = $connection;
     $this->checksumProvider = $checksum_provider;
-    $this->serializer = $serializer ?: \Drupal::service('serialization.objectaware.default');
+    $this->serializer = $serializer ?: \Drupal::service('serialization.phpserialize');
   }
 
   /**
diff -u b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackendFactory.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackendFactory.php
--- b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackendFactory.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackendFactory.php
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 class DatabaseBackendFactory implements CacheFactoryInterface {
 
   /**
-   * The serialization class to use.
+   * The serializer to use.
    *
    * @var \Drupal\Component\Serialization\ObjectAwareSerializationInterface
    */
@@ -36,12 +36,12 @@
    * @param \Drupal\Core\Cache\CacheTagsChecksumInterface $checksum_provider
    *   The cache tags checksum provider.
    * @param \Drupal\Component\Serialization\ObjectAwareSerializationInterface $serializer
-   *   The serialization class to use.
+   *   The serializer to use.
    */
   function __construct(Connection $connection, CacheTagsChecksumInterface $checksum_provider, ObjectAwareSerializationInterface $serializer = NULL) {
     $this->connection = $connection;
     $this->checksumProvider = $checksum_provider;
-    $this->serializer = $serializer ?: \Drupal::service('serialization.objectaware.default');
+    $this->serializer = $serializer ?: \Drupal::service('serialization.phpserialize');
   }
 
   /**
diff -u b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php
--- b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/DrupalKernel.php
@@ -77,13 +77,13 @@
       ],
       'cache.container' => [
         'class' => 'Drupal\Core\Cache\DatabaseBackend',
-        'arguments' => ['@database', '@cache_tags_provider.container', 'container', '@serialization.objectaware.default'],
+        'arguments' => ['@database', '@cache_tags_provider.container', 'container', '@serialization.phpserialize'],
       ],
       'cache_tags_provider.container' => [
         'class' => 'Drupal\Core\Cache\DatabaseCacheTagsChecksum',
         'arguments' => ['@database'],
       ],
-      'serialization.objectaware.default' => [
+      'serialization.phpserialize' => [
         'class' => 'Drupal\Component\Serialization\PhpSerialize',
       ],
     ],
diff -u b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Cache/ChainedFastBackendTest.php b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Cache/ChainedFastBackendTest.php
--- b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Cache/ChainedFastBackendTest.php
+++ b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Cache/ChainedFastBackendTest.php
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@
    *   A new ChainedFastBackend object.
    */
   protected function createCacheBackend($bin) {
-    $consistent_backend = new DatabaseBackend(\Drupal::service('database'), \Drupal::service('cache_tags.invalidator.checksum'), $bin, \Drupal::service('serialization.objectaware.default'));
+    $consistent_backend = new DatabaseBackend(\Drupal::service('database'), \Drupal::service('cache_tags.invalidator.checksum'), $bin, \Drupal::service('serialization.phpserialize'));
     $fast_backend = new PhpBackend($bin, \Drupal::service('cache_tags.invalidator.checksum'));
     $backend = new ChainedFastBackend($consistent_backend, $fast_backend, $bin);
     // Explicitly register the cache bin as it can not work through the
diff -u b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackendTest.php b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackendTest.php
--- b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackendTest.php
+++ b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Cache/DatabaseBackendTest.php
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@
    *   A new DatabaseBackend object.
    */
   protected function createCacheBackend($bin) {
-    return new DatabaseBackend($this->container->get('database'), $this->container->get('cache_tags.invalidator.checksum'), $bin, $this->container->get('serialization.objectaware.default'));
+    return new DatabaseBackend($this->container->get('database'), $this->container->get('cache_tags.invalidator.checksum'), $bin, $this->container->get('serialization.phpserialize'));
   }
 
   /**
diff -u b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Command/DbDumpTest.php b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Command/DbDumpTest.php
--- b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Command/DbDumpTest.php
+++ b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Command/DbDumpTest.php
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@
     $container->register('cache_factory', 'Drupal\Core\Cache\DatabaseBackendFactory')
       ->addArgument(new Reference('database'))
       ->addArgument(new Reference('cache_tags.invalidator.checksum'))
-      ->addArgument(new Reference('serialization.objectaware.default'));
+      ->addArgument(new Reference('serialization.phpserialize'));
   }
 
   /**
diff -u b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Config/Storage/CachedStorageTest.php b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Config/Storage/CachedStorageTest.php
--- b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Config/Storage/CachedStorageTest.php
+++ b/core/tests/Drupal/KernelTests/Core/Config/Storage/CachedStorageTest.php
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@
     $container->register('cache_factory', 'Drupal\Core\Cache\DatabaseBackendFactory')
       ->addArgument(new Reference('database'))
       ->addArgument(new Reference('cache_tags.invalidator.checksum'))
-      ->addArgument(new Reference('serialization.objectaware.default'));
+      ->addArgument(new Reference('serialization.phpserialize'));
   }
 
 }