diff --git a/core/modules/menu/lib/Drupal/menu/MenuFormController.php b/core/modules/menu/lib/Drupal/menu/MenuFormController.php
index 582ddde..669eeba 100644
--- a/core/modules/menu/lib/Drupal/menu/MenuFormController.php
+++ b/core/modules/menu/lib/Drupal/menu/MenuFormController.php
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ public function form(array $form, array &$form_state) {
       '#type' => 'textfield',
       '#title' => t('Administrative summary'),
       '#maxlength' => 512,
-      '#default_value' => $menu->description,
+      '#default_value' => $menu->getDescription(),
     );
 
     $form['langcode'] = array(
diff --git a/core/modules/menu/lib/Drupal/menu/MenuListController.php b/core/modules/menu/lib/Drupal/menu/MenuListController.php
index 4c5a408..1ca2960 100644
--- a/core/modules/menu/lib/Drupal/menu/MenuListController.php
+++ b/core/modules/menu/lib/Drupal/menu/MenuListController.php
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ public function buildRow(EntityInterface $entity) {
       'data' => $this->getLabel($entity),
       'class' => array('menu-label'),
     );
-    $row['description'] = filter_xss_admin($entity->description);
+    $row['description'] = filter_xss_admin($entity->getDescription());
     return $row + parent::buildRow($entity);
   }
 
diff --git a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Entity/Menu.php b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Entity/Menu.php
index 7b2be7b..66f12b8 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Entity/Menu.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/Entity/Menu.php
@@ -59,6 +59,27 @@ class Menu extends ConfigEntityBase implements MenuInterface {
    *
    * @var string
    */
-  public $description;
+  protected $description;
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function getDescription() {
+    return $this->description;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function getExportProperties() {
+    $properties = parent::getExportProperties();
+    $names = array(
+      'description',
+    );
+    foreach ($names as $name) {
+      $properties[$name] = $this->get($name);
+    }
+    return $properties;
+  }
 
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/MenuInterface.php b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/MenuInterface.php
index cd6e73e..a18cd35 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/MenuInterface.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/lib/Drupal/system/MenuInterface.php
@@ -14,4 +14,11 @@
  */
 interface MenuInterface extends ConfigEntityInterface {
 
+  /**
+   * Returns the description of the menu.
+   *
+   * @return string
+   */
+  public function getDescription();
+
 }