diff --git a/core/config/schema/core.entity.schema.yml b/core/config/schema/core.entity.schema.yml
index 6a4bc1a..60f214b 100644
--- a/core/config/schema/core.entity.schema.yml
+++ b/core/config/schema/core.entity.schema.yml
@@ -367,8 +367,5 @@ bundle_config_entity:
       type: label
       label: 'Indefinite plural name'
     label_count:
-      type: sequence
+      type: plural_label
       label: 'Count label'
-      sequence:
-        type: label
-        label: 'Plural variant'
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Entity/ConfigEntityBundleBase.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Entity/ConfigEntityBundleBase.php
index 131af79..6b3380b 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Entity/ConfigEntityBundleBase.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Config/Entity/ConfigEntityBundleBase.php
@@ -32,11 +32,9 @@
   /**
    * A definite singular/plural count label.
    *
-   * The label is an array having the plural variants as items.
-   *
-   * @var string[]
+   * @var string
    */
-  protected $label_count = [];
+  protected $label_count;
 
   /**
    * Deletes display if a bundle is deleted.
@@ -94,7 +92,14 @@ public static function postDelete(EntityStorageInterface $storage, array $entiti
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function getSingularLabel() {
-    return $this->label_singular = $this->label_singular ?: Unicode::strtolower($this->label());
+    if (empty($this->label_singular)) {
+      // Provide a fallback in case label_singular is not set yet.
+      if ($this->isNew()) {
+        return '';
+      }
+      $this->label_singular = Unicode::strtolower($this->label());
+    }
+    return $this->label_singular;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -102,8 +107,13 @@ public function getSingularLabel() {
    */
   public function getPluralLabel() {
     if (empty($this->label_plural)) {
+      // Provide a fallback in case label_plural is not set yet.
+      if ($this->isNew()) {
+        return '';
+      }
       $arguments = ['@label' => Unicode::strtolower($this->label())];
-      $this->label_plural = new TranslatableMarkup('@label items', $arguments);
+      $options = ['langcode' => $this->language()->getId()];
+      $this->label_plural = new TranslatableMarkup('@label items', $arguments, $options);
     }
     return $this->label_plural;
   }
@@ -113,14 +123,15 @@ public function getPluralLabel() {
    */
   public function getCountLabel($count) {
     $index = $this->getPluralIndex($count);
-    if (isset($this->label_count[$index])) {
-      return new FormattableMarkup($this->label_count[$index], ['@count' => $count]);
+    $label_count = empty($this->label_count) ? [] : explode(PluralTranslatableMarkup::DELIMITER, $this->label_count);
+    if (isset($label_count[$index])) {
+      return new FormattableMarkup($label_count[$index], ['@count' => $count]);
     }
     $arguments = [
-      '@label_singular' => $this->getSingularLabel(),
-      '@label_plural' => $this->getPluralLabel(),
+      '@singular' => $this->getSingularLabel(),
+      '@plural' => $this->getPluralLabel(),
     ];
-    return new PluralTranslatableMarkup($count, '1 @label_singular', '@count @label_plural', $arguments);
+    return new PluralTranslatableMarkup($count, '1 @singular', '@count @plural', $arguments);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/modules/book/config/install/node.type.book.yml b/core/modules/book/config/install/node.type.book.yml
index 0c07a79..4deaa97 100644
--- a/core/modules/book/config/install/node.type.book.yml
+++ b/core/modules/book/config/install/node.type.book.yml
@@ -11,3 +11,6 @@ help: ''
 new_revision: true
 preview_mode: 1
 display_submitted: true
+label_singular: 'book page'
+label_plural: 'book pages'
+label_count: "1 book page\x03@count book pages"
diff --git a/core/modules/forum/config/optional/node.type.forum.yml b/core/modules/forum/config/optional/node.type.forum.yml
index 8ed965d..a6f19e8 100644
--- a/core/modules/forum/config/optional/node.type.forum.yml
+++ b/core/modules/forum/config/optional/node.type.forum.yml
@@ -11,3 +11,6 @@ help: ''
 new_revision: false
 preview_mode: 1
 display_submitted: true
+label_singular: 'forum topic'
+label_plural: 'forum topics'
+label_count: "1 forum topic\x03@count forum topics"
diff --git a/core/modules/node/src/NodeTypeForm.php b/core/modules/node/src/NodeTypeForm.php
index 6d160ab..f08286b 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/src/NodeTypeForm.php
+++ b/core/modules/node/src/NodeTypeForm.php
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityTypeInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Form\FormStateInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\StringTranslation\PluralTranslatableMarkup;
 use Drupal\language\Entity\ContentLanguageSettings;
 use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
 
@@ -184,7 +185,7 @@ public function form(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_state) {
     );
     $form['display']['plural'] = [
       '#type' => 'fieldset',
-      '#title' => $this->t('Label variants'),
+      '#title' => $this->t('Singular and plural labels'),
       '#description' => $this->t('These are alternatives to the node type label for singular and plural cases.'),
     ];
     $form['display']['plural']['label_singular'] = [
@@ -200,47 +201,20 @@ public function form(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_state) {
       '#default_value' => $type->getPluralLabel(),
     ];
 
-    if (\Drupal::hasService('locale.plural.formula')) {
-      $langcode = $type->language()->getId();
-      $plurals = \Drupal::service('locale.plural.formula')->getNumberOfPlurals($langcode);
-    }
-    else {
-      // We assume 2 plurals if Locale's services are not available.
-      $plurals = 2;
-    }
-    $label_count = $type->get('label_count');
-
+    $arguments = ['@plural' => $type->getPluralLabel() ?: $this->t('items')];
     $form['display']['label_count'] = [
       '#type' => 'fieldset',
       '#title' => $this->t('Count labels'),
-      '#description' => $this->t('Count labels are used to build a text representation of a certain number of @label_plural. Token <code>@count</code> is available and will be replaced with the number of @label_plural.', ['@label_plural' => $type->getPluralLabel()]),
+      '#description' => $this->t('Count labels are used to build a text representation of a certain number of @label_plural. Token <code>@count</code> is available and will be replaced with the number of @plural.', $arguments),
       '#tree' => TRUE,
     ];
+    $plurals = $this->getNumberOfPlurals($type->language()->getId());
     for ($i = 0; $i < $plurals; $i++) {
-      if ($i == 0) {
-        $title = $this->t('Singular form');
-      }
-      elseif ($plurals == 2 && $i == 1) {
-        $title = $this->t('Plural form');
-      }
-      else {
-        $title = $this->formatPlural($i, 'First plural form', '@count. plural form');
-      }
-      if (isset($label_count[$i])) {
-        $default_value = $label_count[$i];
-      }
-      else {
-        $arguments = [
-          '@label_singular' => $type->getSingularLabel(),
-          '@label_plural' => $type->getPluralLabel(),
-        ];
-        $default_value = $i == 0 ? $this->t('1 @label_singular', $arguments) : $this->t('@count @label_plural', $arguments);
-      }
       $form['display']['label_count'][$i] = [
         '#type' => 'textfield',
-        '#title' => $title,
-        '#description' => $this->t('Text to use for this variant, @count will be replaced with the number of @label_plural.', ['@label_plural' => $type->getPluralLabel()]),
-        '#default_value' => $default_value,
+        '#title' => $this->getPluralVariantLabel($plurals, $i),
+        '#description' => $this->t('Text to use for this variant, @count will be replaced with the number of @plural.', $arguments),
+        '#default_value' => $this->getPluralVariantDefaultValue($i),
       ];
     }
 
@@ -268,6 +242,10 @@ public function validateForm(array &$form, FormStateInterface $form_state) {
     if ($id == '0') {
       $form_state->setErrorByName('type', $this->t("Invalid machine-readable name. Enter a name other than %invalid.", array('%invalid' => $id)));
     }
+
+    // Pack the label_count values as a plural_label.
+    $label_count = array_filter($form_state->getValue('label_count'));
+    $form_state->setValue('label_count', implode(PluralTranslatableMarkup::DELIMITER, $label_count));
   }
 
   /**
@@ -315,4 +293,64 @@ public function save(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_state) {
     $form_state->setRedirectUrl($type->urlInfo('collection'));
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns a plural variant label given the variant delta and variants count.
+   *
+   * @param int $plurals
+   *   The total number of plural variants.
+   * @param int $delta
+   *   The plural variant delta.
+   *
+   * @return \Drupal\Component\Render\MarkupInterface
+   *   The variant label.
+   */
+  protected function getPluralVariantLabel($plurals, $delta) {
+    if ($delta == 0) {
+      return $this->t('Singular form');
+    }
+    elseif ($plurals == 2 && $delta == 1) {
+      return $this->t('Plural form');
+    }
+    return $this->formatPlural($delta, 'First plural form', '@count. plural form');
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Retrieves a plural variant from the backend or assures a decent fallback.
+   *
+   * @param int $delta
+   *   The plural variant delta.
+   *
+   * @return \Drupal\Component\Render\MarkupInterface|string
+   *   The plural variant default value.
+   */
+  protected function getPluralVariantDefaultValue($delta) {
+    static $label_count;
+
+    /** @var \Drupal\node\Entity\NodeType $type */
+    $type = $this->getEntity();
+
+    if (!isset($label_count)) {
+      $label_count = $type->get('label_count');
+      $label_count = $label_count ? explode(PluralTranslatableMarkup::DELIMITER, $label_count) : [];
+    }
+
+    if (isset($label_count[$delta])) {
+      // A value was stored in the backend.
+      return $label_count[$delta];
+    }
+
+    $singular = $type->getSingularLabel();
+    $plural = $type->getPluralLabel();
+
+    if ($type->isNew() || ($delta == 0 && empty($singular) || ($delta > 0 && empty($plural)))) {
+      // Either the node type is not yet saved (we don't even know the entity
+      // label) or we cannot assure a decent fallback.
+      return '';
+    }
+
+    // Provide a fallback default value.
+    $arguments = ['@singular' => $singular, '@plural' => $plural];
+    return $delta == 0 ? $this->t('1 @singular', $arguments) : $this->t('@count @plural', $arguments);
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/core/profiles/standard/config/install/node.type.article.yml b/core/profiles/standard/config/install/node.type.article.yml
index 2a13b53..9d6f11a 100644
--- a/core/profiles/standard/config/install/node.type.article.yml
+++ b/core/profiles/standard/config/install/node.type.article.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,4 @@ preview_mode: 1
 display_submitted: true
 label_singular: article
 label_plural: articles
-label_count:
-  - '1 article'
-  - '@count articles'
+label_count: "1 article\x03@count articles"
diff --git a/core/profiles/standard/config/install/node.type.page.yml b/core/profiles/standard/config/install/node.type.page.yml
index 60f4101..2c1de80 100644
--- a/core/profiles/standard/config/install/node.type.page.yml
+++ b/core/profiles/standard/config/install/node.type.page.yml
@@ -10,6 +10,4 @@ preview_mode: 1
 display_submitted: false
 label_singular: page
 label_plural: pages
-label_count:
-  - '1 page'
-  - '@count pages'
+label_count: "1 page\x03@count pages"