diff -u b/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
--- b/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -340,6 +340,8 @@
     $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');
@@ -358,29 +360,23 @@
 
     // Set summary and description based on values determined above.
     $summary = t('Last run !time ago', array('!time' => \Drupal::service('date.formatter')->formatTimeDiffSince($cron_last)));
+    $description = '';
     if ($severity != REQUIREMENT_INFO) {
-      $description = 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-manual">run cron manually</a>.<br />To run cron from outside the site, go to <a href="@cron-outside">@cron-outside</a>',
-        array(
-          '@cron-handbook' => 'https://www.drupal.org/cron',
-          '@cron-manual' => \Drupal::url('system.run_cron'),
-          '@cron-outside' => \Drupal::url('system.cron', array('key' => \Drupal::state()->get('system.cron_key'), array('absolute' => TRUE))),
-        )
-      );
-    }
-    else {
-      $description = t('You can <a href="@cron-manual">run cron manually</a>.<br />To run cron from outside the site, go to <a href="@cron-outside">@cron-outside</a>',
-        array(
-          '@cron-manual' => \Drupal::url('system.run_cron'),
-          '@cron-outside' => \Drupal::url('system.cron', array('key' => \Drupal::state()->get('system.cron_key'), array('absolute' => TRUE))),
-        )
-      );
+      $description = t('Cron has not run recently.') . ' ' . $help;
     }
 
+    $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)))));
+
     $requirements['cron'] = array(
       'title' => t('Cron maintenance tasks'),
       'severity' => $severity,
       'value' => $summary,
-      'description' => $description,
+      // @todo This string is concatenated from t() calls, safe drupal_render()
+      //   output, whitespace, and <br /> tags, so is safe. However, as a best
+      //   practice, we should not use SafeMarkup::set() around a variable. Fix
+      //   in: https://www.drupal.org/node/2296929.
+      'description' => SafeMarkup::set($description),
     );
   }
   if ($phase != 'install') {
@@ -419,8 +415,6 @@
     $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');
@@ -439,24 +433,25 @@
 
     // Set summary and description based on values determined above.
     $summary = t('Last run !time ago', array('!time' => \Drupal::service('date.formatter')->formatTimeDiffSince($cron_last)));
-    $description = '';
-    if ($severity != REQUIREMENT_INFO) {
-      $description = t('Cron has not run recently.') . ' ' . $help;
-    }
-
-    $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)))));
 
     $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),
     );
+    if ($severity != REQUIREMENT_INFO || TRUE) {
+      $requirements['cron']['description'][] = ['#markup' => t('Cron has not run recently.')];
+      $requirements['cron']['description'][] = [
+        '#prefix' => ' ',
+        '#markup' => t('For more information, see the online handbook entry for <a href="@cron-handbook">configuring cron jobs</a>.'),
+        '#suffix' => ' ',
+      ];
+    }
+    $requirements['cron']['description'][] = ['#markup' => t('You can <a href="@cron">run cron manually</a>.', ['@cron' => \Drupal::url('system.run_cron')])];
+    $requirements['cron']['description'][] = [
+      '#prefix' => '<br />',
+      '#markup' => t('To run cron from outside the site, go to <a href="@cron">@cron</a>', ['@cron' => \Drupal::url('system.cron', ['key' => \Drupal::state()->get('system.cron_key'), ['absolute' => TRUE]])]),
+    ];
   }
   if ($phase != 'install') {
     $filesystem_config = \Drupal::config('system.file');