diff --git a/core/modules/locale/locale.module b/core/modules/locale/locale.module
index 3ebe97d..85ed5d1 100644
--- a/core/modules/locale/locale.module
+++ b/core/modules/locale/locale.module
@@ -725,15 +725,15 @@ function locale_system_file_system_settings_submit(&$form, $form_state) {
  * Implements hook_preprocess_HOOK() for node.tpl.php.
  */
 function locale_preprocess_node(&$variables) {
-  if ($variables['langcode'] != LANGUAGE_NOT_SPECIFIED) {
+  if ($variables['node']->langcode != LANGUAGE_NOT_SPECIFIED) {
     $language_interface = language(LANGUAGE_TYPE_INTERFACE);
 
-    $node_language = language_load($variables['langcode']);
+    $node_language = language_load($variables['node']->langcode);
     if ($node_language->langcode != $language_interface->langcode) {
       // If the node language was different from the page language, we should
       // add markup to identify the language. Otherwise the page language is
       // inherited.
-      $variables['attributes']['lang'] = $variables['langcode'];
+      $variables['attributes']['lang'] = $variables['node']->langcode;
       if ($node_language->direction != $language_interface->direction) {
         // If text direction is different form the page's text direction, add
         // direction information as well.
diff --git a/core/modules/node/node.module b/core/modules/node/node.module
index a997a04..6b7c0d9 100644
--- a/core/modules/node/node.module
+++ b/core/modules/node/node.module
@@ -1169,8 +1169,12 @@ function template_preprocess_node(&$variables) {
   $variables['label']     = check_plain($node->label());
   $variables['page']      = $variables['view_mode'] == 'full' && node_is_page($node);
 
-  // Flatten the node entity's member fields.
-  $variables = array_merge((array) $node, $variables);
+  // Make useful flags and node data available.
+  // @todo: Check if all are required.
+  $properties = array('type', 'comment_count', 'uid', 'created', 'promote', 'sticky', 'status', 'comment', 'readmore');
+  foreach ($properties as $property) {
+    $variables[$property] = $node->$property;
+  }
 
   // Helpful $content variable for templates.
   $variables += array('content' => array());
@@ -1198,13 +1202,13 @@ function template_preprocess_node(&$variables) {
 
   // Gather node classes.
   $variables['attributes']['class'][] = drupal_html_class('node-' . $node->type);
-  if ($variables['promote']) {
+  if ($node->promote) {
     $variables['attributes']['class'][] = 'promoted';
   }
-  if ($variables['sticky']) {
+  if ($node->sticky) {
     $variables['attributes']['class'][] = 'sticky';
   }
-  if (!$variables['status']) {
+  if (!$node->status) {
     $variables['attributes']['class'][] = 'unpublished';
   }
   if ($variables['view_mode']) {
diff --git a/core/modules/rdf/rdf.module b/core/modules/rdf/rdf.module
index 782c06f..2e04773 100644
--- a/core/modules/rdf/rdf.module
+++ b/core/modules/rdf/rdf.module
@@ -527,7 +527,7 @@ function rdf_preprocess_node(&$variables) {
     $element = array(
       '#tag' => 'meta',
       '#attributes' => array(
-        'content' => $variables['title'],
+        'content' => $variables['label'],
         'about' => $variables['node_url'],
       ),
     );
@@ -538,18 +538,18 @@ function rdf_preprocess_node(&$variables) {
   }
 
   // Adds RDFa markup for the date.
-  if (!empty($variables['rdf_mapping']['created'])) {
-    $date_attributes = rdf_rdfa_attributes($variables['rdf_mapping']['created'], $variables['created']);
+  if (!empty($variables['node']->rdf_mapping['created'])) {
+    $date_attributes = rdf_rdfa_attributes($variables['node']->rdf_mapping['created'], $variables['node']->created);
     $variables['rdf_template_variable_attributes']['date'] = $date_attributes;
     if ($variables['submitted']) {
       $variables['rdf_template_variable_attributes']['submitted'] = $date_attributes;
     }
   }
   // Adds RDFa markup for the relation between the node and its author.
-  if (!empty($variables['rdf_mapping']['uid'])) {
-    $variables['rdf_template_variable_attributes']['name']['rel'] = $variables['rdf_mapping']['uid']['predicates'];
+  if (!empty($variables['node']->rdf_mapping['uid'])) {
+    $variables['rdf_template_variable_attributes']['name']['rel'] = $variables['node']->rdf_mapping['uid']['predicates'];
     if ($variables['submitted']) {
-      $variables['rdf_template_variable_attributes']['submitted']['rel'] = $variables['rdf_mapping']['uid']['predicates'];
+      $variables['rdf_template_variable_attributes']['submitted']['rel'] = $variables['node']->rdf_mapping['uid']['predicates'];
     }
   }