diff --git a/core/includes/install.core.inc b/core/includes/install.core.inc
index 568fe20..8d27e08 100644
--- a/core/includes/install.core.inc
+++ b/core/includes/install.core.inc
@@ -1273,13 +1273,12 @@ function install_select_profile(&$install_state) {
 function _install_select_profile(&$install_state) {
   // Don't need to choose profile if only one available.
   if (count($install_state['profiles']) == 1) {
-    $profile = reset($install_state['profiles']);
-    return $profile->getName();
+    return key($install_state['profiles']);
   }
   if (!empty($install_state['parameters']['profile'])) {
     $profile = $install_state['parameters']['profile'];
     if (isset($install_state['profiles'][$profile])) {
-      return $install_state['profiles'][$profile]->getName();
+      return $profile;
     }
   }
   // Check for a distribution profile.
diff --git a/core/includes/install.inc b/core/includes/install.inc
index f8b8daf..4b5466d 100644
--- a/core/includes/install.inc
+++ b/core/includes/install.inc
@@ -95,16 +95,19 @@ function drupal_load_updates() {
 function drupal_install_profile_distribution_name() {
   // During installation, the profile information is stored in the global
   // installation state (it might not be saved anywhere yet).
+  $info = array();
   if (drupal_installation_attempted()) {
     global $install_state;
-    return isset($install_state['profile_info']['distribution']['name']) ? $install_state['profile_info']['distribution']['name'] : 'Drupal';
+    if (isset($install_state['profile_info'])) {
+      $info = $install_state['profile_info'];
+    }
   }
   // At all other times, we load the profile via standard methods.
   else {
     $profile = drupal_get_profile();
     $info = system_get_info('module', $profile);
-    return $info['distribution']['name'];
   }
+  return isset($info['distribution']['name']) ? $info['distribution']['name'] : 'Drupal';
 }
 
 /**
@@ -1046,14 +1049,19 @@ function drupal_check_module($module) {
  * Additional, less commonly-used information that can appear in a
  * profile.info.yml file but not in a normal Drupal module .info.yml file
  * includes:
- * - distribution: Existence of this key denotes that the install profile is
- *   intended to be the only eligible choice in a distribution and will be
+ *
+ * - distribution: Existence of this key denotes that the installation profile
+ *   is intended to be the only eligible choice in a distribution and will be
  *   auto-selected during installation, whereas the installation profile
  *   selection screen will be skipped. If more than one distribution profile is
- *   found then the first discovered one will be selected.
+ *   found then the first one discovered will be selected.
  *   The following subproperties may be set:
- *   - name: The name of the Drupal distribution that is being installed, to be
- *     shown throughout the installation process. Defaults to 'Drupal'.
+ *   - name: The name of the distribution that is being installed, to be shown
+ *     throughout the installation process. If omitted,
+ *     drupal_install_profile_distribution_name() defaults to 'Drupal'.
+ *   - install: Optional parameters to override the installer:
+ *     - theme: The machine name of a theme to use in the installer instead of
+ *       Drupal's default installer theme.
  *
  * Note that this function does an expensive file system scan to get info file
  * information for dependencies. If you only need information from the info
diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.module b/core/modules/system/system.module
index 1ee7add..65a8796 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.module
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.module
@@ -1425,8 +1425,9 @@ function _system_rebuild_module_data() {
   if ($profile && isset($modules[$profile])) {
     // The installation profile is required, if it's a valid module.
     $modules[$profile]->info['required'] = TRUE;
-    // Add a default distribution name if the profile did not provide one. This
-    // matches the default value used in install_profile_info().
+    // Add a default distribution name if the profile did not provide one.
+    // @see install_profile_info()
+    // @see drupal_install_profile_distribution_name()
     if (!isset($modules[$profile]->info['distribution']['name'])) {
       $modules[$profile]->info['distribution']['name'] = 'Drupal';
     }