diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/schema.php b/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
index 0dc3df913b..9b8baa47f1 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/schema.php
@@ -983,7 +983,8 @@ We hope you enjoy your new site. Thanks!
 		'illegal_names' => array( 'www', 'web', 'root', 'admin', 'main', 'invite', 'administrator', 'files' ),
 		'wpmu_upgrade_site' => $wp_db_version,
 		'welcome_email' => $welcome_email,
-		'first_post' => __( 'Welcome to <a href="SITE_URL">SITE_NAME</a>. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!' ),
+		/* translators: %s: site link */
+		'first_post' => __( 'Welcome to %s. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!' ),
 		// @todo - network admins should have a method of editing the network siteurl (used for cookie hash)
 		'siteurl' => get_option( 'siteurl' ) . '/',
 		'add_new_users' => '0',
diff --git a/wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php b/wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php
index be948639fc..521f492bfd 100644
--- a/wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php
+++ b/wp-admin/includes/upgrade.php
@@ -155,11 +155,18 @@ function wp_install_defaults( $user_id ) {
 	if ( is_multisite() ) {
 		$first_post = get_site_option( 'first_post' );
 
-		if ( empty($first_post) )
-			$first_post = __( 'Welcome to <a href="SITE_URL">SITE_NAME</a>. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!' );
+		if ( ! $first_post ) {
+			/* translators: %s: site link */
+			$first_post = __( 'Welcome to %s. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!' );
+		}
 
-		$first_post = str_replace( "SITE_URL", esc_url( network_home_url() ), $first_post );
-		$first_post = str_replace( "SITE_NAME", get_current_site()->site_name, $first_post );
+		$first_post = sprintf( $first_post,
+			sprintf( '<a href="%s">%s</a>', esc_url( network_home_url() ), get_current_site()->site_name )
+		);
+
+		// Back-compat for pre-4.4
+		$first_post = str_replace( 'SITE_URL', esc_url( network_home_url() ), $first_post );
+		$first_post = str_replace( 'SITE_NAME', get_current_site()->site_name, $first_post );
 	} else {
 		$first_post = __( 'Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start writing!' );
 	}
diff --git a/wp-includes/version.php b/wp-includes/version.php
index fa807cded1..3d91c6a0f8 100644
--- a/wp-includes/version.php
+++ b/wp-includes/version.php
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
  *
  * @global string $wp_version
  */
-$wp_version = '4.4-beta3-35613';
+$wp_version = '4.4-beta3-35614';
 
 /**
  * Holds the WordPress DB revision, increments when changes are made to the WordPress DB schema.