diff --git a/docs/subsystems/html-css.md b/docs/subsystems/html-css.md
index fb1b7d4f05..032d680299 100644
--- a/docs/subsystems/html-css.md
+++ b/docs/subsystems/html-css.md
@@ -277,8 +277,6 @@ function in those scenarios, add it to `zulip_test`.  This is also
 [Jinja2]: http://jinja.pocoo.org/
 [Handlebars]: https://handlebarsjs.com/
 [trans]: http://jinja.pocoo.org/docs/dev/templates/#i18n
-[i18next]: https://www.i18next.com
-[official]: https://www.i18next.com/plurals.html
 [jconditionals]: http://jinja.pocoo.org/docs/2.9/templates/#list-of-control-structures
 [hconditionals]: https://handlebarsjs.com/guide/#block_helpers.html
 [translation]: ../translating/translating.md
diff --git a/docs/translating/internationalization.md b/docs/translating/internationalization.md
index 00d1a361b6..0d1a65ee52 100644
--- a/docs/translating/internationalization.md
+++ b/docs/translating/internationalization.md
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ The end-to-end tooling process for translations in Zulip is as follows.
    [frontend](#frontend-translations) translations for details on
    this).
 
-2. Translation [resource][] files are created using the `./manage.py
+2. Translation resource files are created using the `./manage.py
    makemessages` command. This command will create, for each language,
    a resource file called `translations.json` for the frontend strings
    and `django.po` for the backend strings.
@@ -208,73 +208,46 @@ Zulip linter (`tools/lint`) attempts to verify correct usage.
 
 ## Frontend translations
 
-We use the [i18next][] library for frontend translations when dealing
+We use the [FormatJS][] library for frontend translations when dealing
 with [Handlebars][] templates or JavaScript.
 
 To mark a string translatable in JavaScript files, pass it to the
-`i18n.t` function.
+`intl.formatMessage` function, which we alias to `$t` in `intl.js`:
 
-```
-i18n.t('English Text', context);
+```js
+$t({defaultMessage: "English Text"})
 ```
 
-Variables in a translated frontend string are enclosed in
-double-underscores, like `__variable__`:
+The string to be translated must be a constant literal string, but
+variables can be interpolated by enclosing them in braces (like
+`{variable}`) and passing a context object:
 
-```
-i18n.t('English text with a __variable__', {'variable': 'Variable value'});
+```js
+$t({defaultMessage: "English text with a {variable}"}, {variable: "Variable value"})
 ```
 
-`i18next` also supports plural translations. To support plurals make
-sure your resource file contains the related keys:
+FormatJS uses the standard [ICU MessageFormat][], which includes
+useful features such as plural translations.
 
+`$t` does not escape any variables, so if your translated string is
+eventually going to be used as HTML, use `$t_html` instead.
+
+```js
+$("#foo").html(
+    $t_html({defaultMessage: "HTML with a {variable}"}, {variable: "Variable value"})
+);
 ```
-{
-    "en": {
-        "translation": {
-            "key": "item",
-            "key_plural": "items",
-            "keyWithCount": "__count__ item",
-            "keyWithCount_plural": "__count__ items"
-        }
-    }
-}
-```
-
-With this resource you can show plurals like this:
-
-```
-i18n.t('key', {count: 0}); // output: 'items'
-i18n.t('key', {count: 1}); // output: 'item'
-i18n.t('key', {count: 5}); // output: 'items'
-i18n.t('key', {count: 100}); // output: 'items'
-i18n.t('keyWithCount', {count: 0}); // output: '0 items'
-i18n.t('keyWithCount', {count: 1}); // output: '1 item'
-i18n.t('keyWithCount', {count: 5}); // output: '5 items'
-i18n.t('keyWithCount', {count: 100}); // output: '100 items'
-```
-
-For further reading on plurals, read the [official] documentation.
-
-By default, all text is escaped by i18next. To unescape a text you can use
-double-underscores followed by a dash and space `__- ` like this:
-
-```
-i18n.t('English text with a __- variable__', {'variable': 'Variable value'});
-```
-
-For more information, you can read the official [unescape] documentation.
 
 ### Handlebars templates
 
-For translations in Handlebars templates we also use `i18n.t`, through two
+For translations in Handlebars templates we also use FormatJS, through two
 Handlebars [helpers][] that Zulip registers.  The syntax for simple strings is:
 
 ```
 {{t 'English Text' }}
 ```
 
-If you are passing a translated string to a Handlebars Partial, you can use:
+If you are passing a translated string to a Handlebars partial, you can use:
 
 ```
 {{> template_name
@@ -291,25 +264,23 @@ The syntax for block strings or strings containing variables is:
 
 var context = {'variable': 'variable value'};
 {{#tr context}}
-    Block of English text with a __variable__.
+    Block of English text with a {variable}.
 {{/tr}}
 ```
 
-Just like in JavaScript code, variables are enclosed in double
-underscores `__`.
+Just like in JavaScript code, variables are enclosed in *single*
+braces (rather than the usual Handlebars double braces).  Unlike in
+JavaScript code, variables are automatically escaped by our Handlebars
+helper.
 
 Handlebars expressions like `{{variable}}` or blocks like
 `{{#if}}...{{/if}}` aren't permitted inside a `{{#tr}}...{{/tr}}`
 translated block, because they don't work properly with translation.
 The Handlebars expression would be evaluated before the string is
-processed by `i18n.t`, so that the string to be translated wouldn't be
+processed by FormatJS, so that the string to be translated wouldn't be
 constant.  We have a linter to enforce that translated blocks don't
 contain handlebars.
 
-The rules for plurals are same as for JavaScript files. You just have
-to declare the appropriate keys in the resource file and then include
-the `count` in the context.
-
 ## Transifex config
 
 The config file that maps the resources from Zulip to Transifex is
@@ -339,11 +310,9 @@ organizations from the command line.
 [Jinja2]: http://jinja.pocoo.org/
 [Handlebars]: https://handlebarsjs.com/
 [trans]: http://jinja.pocoo.org/docs/dev/templates/#i18n
-[i18next]: https://www.i18next.com
-[official]: https://www.i18next.com/plurals.html
-[unescape]: https://www.i18next.com/interpolation.html#unescape
+[FormatJS]: https://formatjs.io/
+[ICU MessageFormat]: https://formatjs.io/docs/intl-messageformat
 [helpers]: https://handlebarsjs.com/guide/block-helpers.html
-[resource]: https://www.i18next.com/add-or-load-translations.html
 [Transifex]: https://transifex.com
 [transifexrc]: https://docs.transifex.com/client/client-configuration#transifexrc
 [html-templates]: ../subsystems/html-css.html#html-templates
diff --git a/docs/tutorials/writing-views.md b/docs/tutorials/writing-views.md
index 2c99efbcba..604e7fd541 100644
--- a/docs/tutorials/writing-views.md
+++ b/docs/tutorials/writing-views.md
@@ -291,7 +291,7 @@ channel.patch({
     data: data,
     success: function (response_data) {
         if (response_data.name !== undefined) {
-            ui_report.success(i18n.t("Name changed!"), name_status);
+            ui_report.success($t({defaultMessage: "Name changed!"}), name_status);
         }
         ...
 ```
diff --git a/frontend_tests/node_tests/i18n.js b/frontend_tests/node_tests/i18n.js
index 5462655c1f..4ef65d7292 100644
--- a/frontend_tests/node_tests/i18n.js
+++ b/frontend_tests/node_tests/i18n.js
@@ -20,9 +20,8 @@ page_params.translation_data = {
 
 // All of our other tests stub out i18n activity;
 // here we do a quick sanity check on the engine itself.
-// We use `i18n.js` to initialize `i18next` and
-// to set `i18n` to `i18next` on the global namespace
-// for `templates.js`.
+// `i18n.js` initializes FormatJS and is imported by
+// `templates.js`.
 unmock_module("../../static/js/i18n");
 const {$t, $t_html} = zrequire("i18n");
 zrequire("templates");