diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers.rb
index 4e22bec6cc908..41b14373a3f26 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers.rb
@@ -4,10 +4,12 @@ class Template
     module Handlers #:nodoc:
       autoload :ERB, 'action_view/template/handlers/erb'
       autoload :Builder, 'action_view/template/handlers/builder'
+      autoload :Raw, 'action_view/template/handlers/raw'
 
       def self.extended(base)
         base.register_default_template_handler :erb, ERB.new
         base.register_template_handler :builder, Builder.new
+        base.register_template_handler :raw, Raw.new
       end
 
       @@template_handlers = {}
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers/raw.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers/raw.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..0c0d1fffcbced
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/handlers/raw.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+module ActionView
+  module Template::Handlers
+    class Raw
+      def call(template)
+        escaped = template.source.gsub(':', '\:')
+
+        '%q:' + escaped + ':;'
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/resolver.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/resolver.rb
index 08155af01310e..fa2038f78d851 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/resolver.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/template/resolver.rb
@@ -171,7 +171,9 @@ def mtime(p)
     def extract_handler_and_format(path, default_formats)
       pieces = File.basename(path).split(".")
       pieces.shift
-      handler = Template.handler_for_extension(pieces.pop)
+      extension = pieces.pop
+      ActiveSupport::Deprecation.warn "The file #{path} did not specify a template handler. The default is currently ERB, but will change to RAW in the future." unless extension
+      handler = Template.handler_for_extension(extension)
       format  = pieces.last && Mime[pieces.last]
       [handler, format]
     end
diff --git a/actionpack/test/fixtures/plain_text.raw b/actionpack/test/fixtures/plain_text.raw
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..b13985337f27d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actionpack/test/fixtures/plain_text.raw
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<%= hello_world %>
diff --git a/actionpack/test/fixtures/plain_text_with_characters.raw b/actionpack/test/fixtures/plain_text_with_characters.raw
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1e86e44fb42d1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/actionpack/test/fixtures/plain_text_with_characters.raw
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Here are some characters: !@#$%^&*()-="'}{`
diff --git a/actionpack/test/template/render_test.rb b/actionpack/test/template/render_test.rb
index e7f5f100bf776..88ed8664c2ae3 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/template/render_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/template/render_test.rb
@@ -79,6 +79,14 @@ def test_render_template_with_handlers
     assert_equal "<h1>No Comment</h1>\n", @view.render(:template => "comments/empty", :handlers => [:builder])
   end
 
+  def test_render_raw_template_with_handlers
+    assert_equal "<%= hello_world %>\n", @view.render(:template => "plain_text")
+  end
+
+  def test_render_raw_template_with_quotes
+    assert_equal %q;Here are some characters: !@#$%^&*()-="'}{`; + "\n", @view.render(:template => "plain_text_with_characters")
+  end
+
   def test_render_file_with_localization_on_context_level
     old_locale, @view.locale = @view.locale, :da
     assert_equal "Hey verden", @view.render(:file => "test/hello_world")
diff --git a/actionpack/test/template/template_test.rb b/actionpack/test/template/template_test.rb
index 8c57ada587664..322bea3fb086b 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/template/template_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/template/template_test.rb
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ def my_buffer
   end
 
   def new_template(body = "<%= hello %>", details = {})
-    ActionView::Template.new(body, "hello template", ERBHandler, {:virtual_path => "hello"}.merge!(details))
+    ActionView::Template.new(body, "hello template", details.fetch(:handler) { ERBHandler }, {:virtual_path => "hello"}.merge!(details))
   end
 
   def render(locals = {})
@@ -64,6 +64,11 @@ def test_basic_template
     assert_equal "Hello", render
   end
 
+  def test_raw_template
+    @template = new_template("<%= hello %>", :handler => ActionView::Template::Handlers::Raw.new)
+    assert_equal "<%= hello %>", render
+  end
+
   def test_template_loses_its_source_after_rendering
     @template = new_template
     render
diff --git a/actionpack/test/template/testing/fixture_resolver_test.rb b/actionpack/test/template/testing/fixture_resolver_test.rb
index de83540468f2f..9649f349cbc9c 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/template/testing/fixture_resolver_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/template/testing/fixture_resolver_test.rb
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ def test_should_return_empty_list_for_unknown_path
   end
 
   def test_should_return_template_for_declared_path
-    resolver = ActionView::FixtureResolver.new("arbitrary/path" => "this text")
-    templates = resolver.find_all("path", "arbitrary", false, {:locale => [], :formats => [:html], :handlers => []})
+    resolver = ActionView::FixtureResolver.new("arbitrary/path.erb" => "this text")
+    templates = resolver.find_all("path", "arbitrary", false, {:locale => [], :formats => [:html], :handlers => [:erb]})
     assert_equal 1, templates.size, "expected one template"
     assert_equal "this text",      templates.first.source
     assert_equal "arbitrary/path", templates.first.virtual_path
diff --git a/actionpack/test/template/testing/null_resolver_test.rb b/actionpack/test/template/testing/null_resolver_test.rb
index e142506e6a3a2..535ad3ab148d0 100644
--- a/actionpack/test/template/testing/null_resolver_test.rb
+++ b/actionpack/test/template/testing/null_resolver_test.rb
@@ -3,10 +3,10 @@
 class NullResolverTest < ActiveSupport::TestCase
   def test_should_return_template_for_any_path
     resolver = ActionView::NullResolver.new()
-    templates = resolver.find_all("path", "arbitrary", false, {:locale => [], :formats => [:html], :handlers => []})
+    templates = resolver.find_all("path.erb", "arbitrary", false, {:locale => [], :formats => [:html], :handlers => []})
     assert_equal 1, templates.size, "expected one template"
     assert_equal "Template generated by Null Resolver", templates.first.source
-    assert_equal "arbitrary/path", templates.first.virtual_path
+    assert_equal "arbitrary/path.erb", templates.first.virtual_path
     assert_equal [:html],          templates.first.formats
   end
 end