diff --git a/includes/form.inc b/includes/form.inc
index c2495e222de..23636d038ee 100644
--- a/includes/form.inc
+++ b/includes/form.inc
@@ -3916,7 +3916,7 @@ function theme_form_required_marker($variables) {
     'class' => 'form-required',
     'title' => $t('This field is required.'),
   );
-  return '<span' . drupal_attributes($attributes) . '>*</span>';
+  return '<abbr' . drupal_attributes($attributes) . '>*</abbr>';
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/misc/ajax.js b/misc/ajax.js
index 830c8aa1c98..92eefea952d 100644
--- a/misc/ajax.js
+++ b/misc/ajax.js
@@ -202,16 +202,16 @@ Drupal.ajax = function (base, element, element_settings) {
  * will test to see if the key press is valid to trigger this event and
  * if it is, trigger it for us and prevent other keypresses from triggering.
  * In this case we're handling RETURN and SPACEBAR keypresses (event codes 13
- * and 32. RETURN is often used to submit a form when in a textfield, and 
- * SPACE is often used to activate an element without submitting. 
+ * and 32. RETURN is often used to submit a form when in a textfield, and
+ * SPACE is often used to activate an element without submitting.
  */
 Drupal.ajax.prototype.keypressResponse = function (element, event) {
   // Create a synonym for this to reduce code confusion.
   var ajax = this;
 
   // Detect enter key and space bar and allow the standard response for them,
-  // except for form elements of type 'text' and 'textarea', where the 
-  // spacebar activation causes inappropriate activation if #ajax['keypress'] is 
+  // except for form elements of type 'text' and 'textarea', where the
+  // spacebar activation causes inappropriate activation if #ajax['keypress'] is
   // TRUE. On a text-type widget a space should always be a space.
   if (event.which == 13 || (event.which == 32 && element.type != 'text' && element.type != 'textarea')) {
     $(ajax.element_settings.element).trigger(ajax.element_settings.event);
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ Drupal.ajax.prototype.commands = {
     if (!$(response.selector).hasClass('ajax-changed')) {
       $(response.selector).addClass('ajax-changed');
       if (response.asterisk) {
-        $(response.selector).find(response.asterisk).append(' <span class="ajax-changed">*</span> ');
+        $(response.selector).find(response.asterisk).append(' <abbr class="ajax-changed" title="' + Drupal.t('Changed') + '">*</abbr> ');
       }
     }
   },
diff --git a/misc/states.js b/misc/states.js
index ec070c9a676..b01bc2b6892 100644
--- a/misc/states.js
+++ b/misc/states.js
@@ -363,7 +363,7 @@ states.State.prototype = {
   $(document).bind('state:required', function(e) {
     if (e.trigger) {
       if (e.value) {
-        $(e.target).closest('.form-item, .form-wrapper').find('label').append('<span class="form-required">*</span>');
+        $(e.target).closest('.form-item, .form-wrapper').find('label').append('<abbr class="form-required" title="' + Drupal.t('This field is required.') + '">*</abbr>');
       }
       else {
         $(e.target).closest('.form-item, .form-wrapper').find('label .form-required').remove();
diff --git a/misc/tabledrag.js b/misc/tabledrag.js
index b566168c354..95fe713b802 100644
--- a/misc/tabledrag.js
+++ b/misc/tabledrag.js
@@ -1141,7 +1141,7 @@ Drupal.tableDrag.prototype.row.prototype.removeIndentClasses = function () {
 Drupal.tableDrag.prototype.row.prototype.markChanged = function () {
   var marker = Drupal.theme('tableDragChangedMarker');
   var cell = $('td:first', this.element);
-  if ($('span.tabledrag-changed', cell).length == 0) {
+  if ($('abbr.tabledrag-changed', cell).length == 0) {
     cell.append(marker);
   }
 };
@@ -1161,7 +1161,7 @@ Drupal.tableDrag.prototype.row.prototype.onSwap = function (swappedRow) {
 };
 
 Drupal.theme.prototype.tableDragChangedMarker = function () {
-  return '<span class="warning tabledrag-changed">*</span>';
+  return '<abbr class="warning tabledrag-changed" title="' + Drupal.t('Changed') + '">*</abbr>';
 };
 
 Drupal.theme.prototype.tableDragIndentation = function () {
diff --git a/modules/field/field.form.inc b/modules/field/field.form.inc
index 66d93e96320..9250a51c434 100644
--- a/modules/field/field.form.inc
+++ b/modules/field/field.form.inc
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ function theme_field_multiple_value_form($variables) {
   if ($element['#cardinality'] > 1 || $element['#cardinality'] == FIELD_CARDINALITY_UNLIMITED) {
     $table_id = drupal_html_id($element['#field_name'] . '_values');
     $order_class = $element['#field_name'] . '-delta-order';
-    $required = !empty($element['#required']) ? '<span class="form-required" title="' . t('This field is required. ') . '">*</span>' : '';
+    $required = !empty($element['#required']) ? '<abbr class="form-required" title="' . t('This field is required. ') . '">*</abbr>' : '';
 
     $header = array(
       array(
diff --git a/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test b/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test
index e7ae9de3f9e..4d969290615 100644
--- a/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test
+++ b/modules/simpletest/tests/form.test
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ class FormsTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
     $elements['file']['empty_values'] = $empty_strings;
 
     // Regular expression to find the expected marker on required elements.
-    $required_marker_preg = '@<label.*<span class="form-required" title="This field is required\.">\*</span></label>@';
+    $required_marker_preg = '@<label.*<abbr class="form-required" title="This field is required\.">\*</abbr></label>@';
 
     // Go through all the elements and all the empty values for them.
     foreach ($elements as $type => $data) {
@@ -598,16 +598,16 @@ class FormsElementsLabelsTestCase extends DrupalWebTestCase {
 
     // Exercise various defaults for textboxes and modifications to ensure
     // appropriate override and correct behaviour.
-    $elements = $this->xpath('//label[@for="edit-form-textfield-test-title-and-required"]/child::span[@class="form-required"]/parent::*/following-sibling::input[@id="edit-form-textfield-test-title-and-required"]');
+    $elements = $this->xpath('//label[@for="edit-form-textfield-test-title-and-required"]/child::abbr[@class="form-required"]/parent::*/following-sibling::input[@id="edit-form-textfield-test-title-and-required"]');
     $this->assertTrue(isset($elements[0]), t("Label preceeds textfield, with required marker inside label."));
 
-    $elements = $this->xpath('//input[@id="edit-form-textfield-test-no-title-required"]/preceding-sibling::label[@for="edit-form-textfield-test-no-title-required"]/span[@class="form-required"]');
+    $elements = $this->xpath('//input[@id="edit-form-textfield-test-no-title-required"]/preceding-sibling::label[@for="edit-form-textfield-test-no-title-required"]/abbr[@class="form-required"]');
     $this->assertTrue(isset($elements[0]), t("Label tag with required marker preceeds required textfield with no title."));
 
     $elements = $this->xpath('//input[@id="edit-form-textfield-test-title-invisible"]/preceding-sibling::label[@for="edit-form-textfield-test-title-invisible" and @class="element-invisible"]');
     $this->assertTrue(isset($elements[0]), t("Label preceeding field and label class is element-invisible."));
 
-    $elements = $this->xpath('//input[@id="edit-form-textfield-test-title"]/preceding-sibling::span[@class="form-required"]');
+    $elements = $this->xpath('//input[@id="edit-form-textfield-test-title"]/preceding-sibling::abbr[@class="form-required"]');
     $this->assertFalse(isset($elements[0]), t("No required marker on non-required field."));
 
     $elements = $this->xpath('//input[@id="edit-form-textfield-test-title-after"]/following-sibling::label[@for="edit-form-textfield-test-title-after" and @class="option"]');
diff --git a/modules/system/system.theme.css b/modules/system/system.theme.css
index d8dbc513b5a..f34a965ec99 100644
--- a/modules/system/system.theme.css
+++ b/modules/system/system.theme.css
@@ -104,6 +104,9 @@ input.form-radio {
 .form-required {
   color: #f00;
 }
+abbr.form-required, abbr.tabledrag-changed, abbr.ajax-changed {
+  border-bottom: none;
+}
 .form-item input.error,
 .form-item textarea.error,
 .form-item select.error {
diff --git a/themes/garland/style.css b/themes/garland/style.css
index f36fa96549f..4a5961c6199 100644
--- a/themes/garland/style.css
+++ b/themes/garland/style.css
@@ -264,7 +264,7 @@ tr:first-child td.category {
   border-top-width: 0;
 }
 
-span.form-required {
+abbr.form-required {
   color: #ffae00;
 }