diff --git a/wp-includes/comment-template.php b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
index a739f622b8..9a2064cec2 100644
--- a/wp-includes/comment-template.php
+++ b/wp-includes/comment-template.php
@@ -1941,7 +1941,7 @@ function get_cancel_comment_reply_link( $text = '', $post = null ) {
 	$post        = get_post( $post );
 	$reply_to_id = $post ? _get_comment_reply_id( $post->ID ) : 0;
 	$style       = 0 !== $reply_to_id ? '' : ' style="display:none;"';
-	$link        = esc_html( remove_query_arg( array( 'replytocom', 'unapproved', 'moderation-hash' ) ) ) . '#respond';
+	$link        = esc_url( remove_query_arg( array( 'replytocom', 'unapproved', 'moderation-hash' ) ) ) . '#respond';
 
 	$formatted_link = '<a rel="nofollow" id="cancel-comment-reply-link" href="' . $link . '"' . $style . '>' . $text . '</a>';