diff --git a/core/includes/common.inc b/core/includes/common.inc
index 0f252ca..e4b5f9c 100644
--- a/core/includes/common.inc
+++ b/core/includes/common.inc
@@ -7159,21 +7159,20 @@ function drupal_get_filetransfer_info() {
 /**
  * Instantiates and statically caches the correct class for a queue.
  *
- * The following variables can be set by variable_set or $conf overrides:
- * - queue_class_$name: The class to be used for the queue $name.
- * - queue_default_class: The class to use when queue_class_$name is not
- *   defined. Defaults to Drupal\Core\Queue\System, a reliable backend using
- *   SQL.
- * - queue_default_reliable_class: The class to use when queue_class_$name is
- *   not defined and the queue_default_class is not reliable. Defaults to
+ * The following values can be set by configuration or $conf overrides:
+ * - class.$name: The class to be used for the queue $name.
+ * - class.default: The class to use when class.$name is not defined. Defaults
+ *   to Drupal\Core\Queue\System, a reliable backend using SQL.
+ * - class.default_reliable: The class to use when class.$name is not defined
+ *   and the class.default is not reliable. Defaults to
  *   Drupal\Core\Queue\System.
  *
  * @param string $name
  *   The name of the queue to work with.
  * @param bool $reliable
- *   TRUE if the ordering of items and guaranteeing every item executes at
- *   least once is important, FALSE if scalability is the main concern. Defaults
- *   to FALSE.
+ *   TRUE if the ordering of items and guaranteeing every item executes at least
+ *   once is important, FALSE if scalability is the main concern. Defaults to
+ *   FALSE.
  *
  * @return Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface
  *   The queue object for a given name.
@@ -7183,13 +7182,16 @@ function drupal_get_filetransfer_info() {
 function queue($name, $reliable = FALSE) {
   static $queues;
   if (!isset($queues[$name])) {
-    $class = variable_get('queue_class_' . $name, NULL);
+    $config = config('system.queue');
+    $class = $config->get('class.' . $name) ?: NULL;
     if ($class && $reliable && in_array('Drupal\Core\Queue\ReliableQueueInterface', class_implements($class))) {
-      $class = variable_get('queue_default_reliable_class', 'Drupal\Core\Queue\System');
+      $class = $config->get('class.default_reliable') ?: 'Drupal\Core\Queue\System';
     }
     elseif (!$class) {
-      $class = variable_get('queue_default_class', 'Drupal\Core\Queue\System');
+      $class = $config->get('class.default') ?: 'Drupal\Core\Queue\System';
     }
+    // @todo Should there be a check if $class implements QueryInterface or
+    //   ReliableQueryInterface?
     $queues[$name] = new $class($name);
   }
   return $queues[$name];
diff --git a/core/modules/system/config/system.queue.yml b/core/modules/system/config/system.queue.yml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..87c3b4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/modules/system/config/system.queue.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+class:
+  default: 'Drupal\Core\Queue\System'
+  default_reliable: 'Drupal\Core\Queue\System'
diff --git a/core/modules/system/system.install b/core/modules/system/system.install
index bbd6118..25e53e5 100644
--- a/core/modules/system/system.install
+++ b/core/modules/system/system.install
@@ -2188,6 +2188,27 @@ function system_update_8030() {
 }
 
 /**
+ * Convert queue variables to configuration system.
+ *
+ * @ingroup config_upgrade
+ */
+function system_update_8031() {
+  // First, convert the two default class values.
+  update_variables_to_config('system.queue', array(
+    'queue_default_class' => 'class.default',
+    'queue_default_reliable_class' => 'class.default_reliable',
+  ));
+  // Then, convert any remaining variables in form of 'queue_class_'.$name.
+  $resource = db_query("SELECT name FROM {variable} WHERE name LIKE 'queue_class_%'");
+  while ($data = db_fetch_object($resource)) {
+    $name = str_replace('queue_class_', '', $data->name);
+    update_variables_to_config('system.queue', array(
+      $data->name => 'class.' . $name,
+    ));
+  }
+}
+
+/**
  * @} End of "defgroup updates-7.x-to-8.x".
  * The next series of updates should start at 9000.
  */