diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/CoreServiceProvider.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/CoreServiceProvider.php
index 8a525c9..7d581fc 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/CoreServiceProvider.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/CoreServiceProvider.php
@@ -121,9 +121,7 @@ public static function registerTwig(ContainerBuilder $container) {
         // files folder is writable.
         'cache' => drupal_installation_attempted() ? FALSE : settings()->get('twig_cache', TRUE),
         'base_template_class' => 'Drupal\Core\Template\TwigTemplate',
-        // @todo Remove in followup issue
-        // @see http://drupal.org/node/1712444.
-        'autoescape' => FALSE,
+        'autoescape' => TRUE,
         // @todo Remove in followup issue
         // @see http://drupal.org/node/1806538.
         'strict_variables' => FALSE,
diff --git a/core/themes/engines/twig/twig.engine b/core/themes/engines/twig/twig.engine
index e09ec99..b46ddb5 100644
--- a/core/themes/engines/twig/twig.engine
+++ b/core/themes/engines/twig/twig.engine
@@ -110,7 +110,7 @@ function twig_render_var($arg) {
     return NULL;
   }
 
-  // Keep Twig_Markup objects intact to prepare for later autoescaping support
+  // Keep Twig_Markup objects intact to support autoescaping.
   if ($arg instanceOf Twig_Markup) {
     return $arg;
   }
@@ -121,13 +121,13 @@ function twig_render_var($arg) {
 
   if (is_object($arg)) {
     if (method_exists($arg, '__toString')) {
-      return (string) $arg;
+      return new Twig_Markup((string) $arg, 'UTF-8');
     }
     throw new Exception(t('Object of type "@class" cannot be printed.', array('@class' => get_class($arg))));
   }
 
   // This is a normal render array.
-  return render($arg);
+  return new Twig_Markup(render($arg), 'UTF-8');
 }
 
 /**