diff --git a/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Menu/MenuTreeStorageTest.php b/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Menu/MenuTreeStorageTest.php
index 1df4050..57f1f2a 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Menu/MenuTreeStorageTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Menu/MenuTreeStorageTest.php
@@ -354,7 +354,6 @@ protected function addMenuLink($id, $parent = '', $route_name = 'test', $route_p
       'menu_name' => $menu_name,
       'route_name' => $route_name,
       'route_parameters' => $route_parameters,
-      'title_arguments' => array(),
       'title' => 'test',
       'parent' => $parent,
       'options' => array(),
diff --git a/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Update/UpdatePathTestBase.php b/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Update/UpdatePathTestBase.php
index fb365f0..6221c08 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Update/UpdatePathTestBase.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/src/Tests/Update/UpdatePathTestBase.php
@@ -141,7 +141,15 @@ protected function setUp() {
 
     // Rebuild and reset.
     $this->rebuildAll();
-
+    // Remove the notices we get due to the menu link rebuild prior to running
+    // the system updates for the schema change.
+    foreach ($this->assertions as $key => $assertion) {
+      if ($assertion['message_group'] == 'Notice' && basename($assertion['file']) == 'MenuTreeStorage.php' && strpos($assertion['message'], 'unserialize(): Error at offset 0') !== FALSE) {
+        unset($this->assertions[$key]);
+        $this->deleteAssert($assertion['message_id']);
+        $this->results['#exception']--;
+      }
+    }
     // Replace User 1 with the user created here.
     /** @var \Drupal\user\UserInterface $account */
     $account = User::load(1);
diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
index 6d3c888..c3990c8 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -1087,30 +1087,64 @@ function system_schema() {
 }
 
 /**
- * Change two fields on the default menu link storage.
+ * Change two fields on the default menu link storage to be serialized data.
  */
-function system_update_8001() {
+function system_update_8001(&$sandbox = NULL) {
   if (db_table_exists('menu_tree')) {
-    $spec = array(
-      'description' => 'The title for the link. May be a serialized TranslationWrapper',
-      'type' => 'blob',
-      'size' => 'big',
-      'not null' => FALSE,
-      'serialize' => TRUE,
-    );
-    db_change_field('menu_tree', 'title', 'title', $spec);
-    $spec = array(
-      'description' => 'The description of this link - used for admin pages and title attribute.',
-      'type' => 'blob',
-      'size' => 'big',
-      'not null' => FALSE,
-      'serialize' => TRUE,
-    );
-    db_change_field('menu_tree', 'description', 'description', $spec);
-    db_update('menu_tree')
-      ->fields(array('title' => NULL, 'description' => NULL))
-      ->execute();
-    db_drop_field('menu_tree', 'title_arguments');
-    db_drop_field('menu_tree', 'title_context');
+    $database = \Drupal::database();
+
+    if (!isset($sandbox['current'])) {
+      $spec = array(
+        'description' => 'The title for the link. May be a serialized TranslationWrapper',
+        'type' => 'blob',
+        'size' => 'big',
+        'not null' => FALSE,
+        'serialize' => TRUE,
+      );
+      db_change_field('menu_tree', 'title', 'title', $spec);
+      $spec = array(
+        'description' => 'The description of this link - used for admin pages and title attribute.',
+        'type' => 'blob',
+        'size' => 'big',
+        'not null' => FALSE,
+        'serialize' => TRUE,
+      );
+      db_change_field('menu_tree', 'description', 'description', $spec);
+
+      $sandbox['current'] = 0;
+      $sandbox['max'] = $database->query('SELECT COUNT(mlid) FROM {menu_tree}')
+        ->fetchField();
+    }
+
+    $menu_links = $database->queryRange('SELECT mlid, title, description FROM {menu_tree} ORDER BY mlid ASC', $sandbox['current'], $sandbox['current'] + 50)
+      ->fetchAllAssoc('mlid');
+
+    foreach ($menu_links as $menu_link) {
+      $menu_link = (array) $menu_link;
+      // Convert title and description to serialized strings.
+      $menu_link['title'] = serialize($menu_link['title']);
+      $menu_link['description'] = serialize($menu_link['description']);
+
+      $database->update('menu_tree')
+        ->fields($menu_link)
+        ->condition('mlid', $menu_link['mlid'])
+        ->execute();
+
+      $sandbox['current'] += 50;
+    }
+
+    $sandbox['#finished'] = empty($sandbox['max']) ? 1 : ($sandbox['current'] / $sandbox['max']);
+
+
+    if ($sandbox['#finished'] >= 1) {
+      // Drop unnecessary fields from {menu_tree}.
+      db_drop_field('menu_tree', 'title_arguments');
+      db_drop_field('menu_tree', 'title_context');
+    }
+    return t('Menu links converted');
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+  else {
+    return t('Menu link conversion skipped');
+  }
+}
+