diff --git a/core/modules/language/migration_templates/default_language.yml b/core/modules/language/migration_templates/default_language.yml
index f7c3cfe..9c1ac63 100644
--- a/core/modules/language/migration_templates/default_language.yml
+++ b/core/modules/language/migration_templates/default_language.yml
@@ -4,13 +4,25 @@ migration_tags:
   - Drupal 6
   - Drupal 7
 source:
-  plugin: language_default
+  plugin: variable
+  variables:
+    - language_default
 process:
   default_langcode:
     -
+      plugin: default_value
+      source: language_default
+      default_value:
+        'language': 'en'
+    -
+      plugin: callback
+      callable: json_encode
+    -
+      plugin: callback
+      callable: json_decode
+    -
       plugin: callback
       callable: get_object_vars
-      source: language_default
     -
       plugin: extract
       index:
diff --git a/core/modules/language/src/Plugin/migrate/source/LanguageDefault.php b/core/modules/language/src/Plugin/migrate/source/LanguageDefault.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 4a44446..0000000
--- a/core/modules/language/src/Plugin/migrate/source/LanguageDefault.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,71 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-
-namespace Drupal\language\Plugin\migrate\source;
-
-use Drupal\migrate_drupal\Plugin\migrate\source\DrupalSqlBase;
-
-/**
- *  Provides a source plugin for the default language variable.
- *
- * @MigrateSource(
- *   id = "language_default"
- * )
- */
-class LanguageDefault extends DrupalSqlBase {
-
-  /**
-   * {@inheritdoc}
-   */
-  protected function initializeIterator() {
-    return new \ArrayIterator(array($this->values()));
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * Return the value of the language_default variable.
-   *
-   * @return array
-   *   An associative array where the key is the variable name and the value is
-   *   the value found in the database. If the variable does not exists, return
-   *   English instead of nothing.
-   */
-  protected function values() {
-    // Create an ID field so we can record migration in the map table.
-    $values['id'] = 'language_default';
-    $results = $this->prepareQuery()->execute()->fetchAllKeyed();
-
-    // If the variable does not exist, we still need to return an object since
-    // it will be passed to the callback process plugin with get_object_vars()
-    // as callable and then the Extract process plugin.
-    if (empty($results)) {
-      $results['language_default'] = 'O:8:"stdClass":1:{s:8:"language";s:2:"en";}';
-    }
-
-    return $values + array_map('unserialize', $results);
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * {@inheritdoc}
-   */
-  public function fields() {
-    return ['language_default' => 'language_default'];
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * {@inheritdoc}
-   */
-  public function query() {
-    return $this->getDatabase()
-      ->select('variable', 'v')
-      ->fields('v', array('name', 'value'))
-      ->condition('name', 'language_default');
-  }
-
-  /**
-   * {@inheritdoc}
-   */
-  public function getIds() {
-    $ids['id']['type'] = 'string';
-    return $ids;
-  }
-
-}
diff --git a/core/modules/language/tests/src/Kernel/Migrate/MigrateDefaultLanguageTrait.php b/core/modules/language/tests/src/Kernel/Migrate/MigrateDefaultLanguageTrait.php
index 0f97698..14c2a7c 100644
--- a/core/modules/language/tests/src/Kernel/Migrate/MigrateDefaultLanguageTrait.php
+++ b/core/modules/language/tests/src/Kernel/Migrate/MigrateDefaultLanguageTrait.php
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ protected function doTestMigration($langcode, $existing = TRUE) {
       // default_langcode config should be set.
       $default_language = ConfigurableLanguage::load($langcode);
       $this->assertNotNull($default_language);
-      $this->assertIdentical($langcode, $this->config('system.site')->get('default_langcode'));
+      $this->assertSame($langcode, $this->config('system.site')->get('default_langcode'));
     }
     else {
       // Otherwise, the migration log should contain an error message.
@@ -46,10 +46,10 @@ protected function doTestMigration($langcode, $existing = TRUE) {
       $count = 0;
       foreach ($messages as $message) {
         $count++;
-        $this->assertEqual($message->message, "The language '$langcode' does not exist on this site.");
-        $this->assertEqual($message->level, MigrationInterface::MESSAGE_ERROR);
+        $this->assertSame($message->message, "The language '$langcode' does not exist on this site.");
+        $this->assertSame((int) $message->level, MigrationInterface::MESSAGE_ERROR);
       }
-      $this->assertEqual($count, 1);
+      $this->assertSame($count, 1);
     }
   }
 
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ protected function doTestMigrationWithUnsetVariable() {
     $this->assertEmpty($messages);
 
     // Make sure the default langcode is 'en', since it was the default on D6 & D7.
-    $this->assertIdentical('en', $this->config('system.site')->get('default_langcode'));
+    $this->assertSame('en', $this->config('system.site')->get('default_langcode'));
   }
 
 }