diff --git a/actionpack/CHANGELOG b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
index 3117fe3b1e9f925f6bea32c4cf27dab84fbc04bd..1b0f6e55b3219b2ae93ac64eb9b2f2300c4d7ec8 100644
--- a/actionpack/CHANGELOG
+++ b/actionpack/CHANGELOG
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 *SVN*
 
-* Deprecate standalone components.  [Jeremy Kemper]
+* ActionView::Base.erb_variable accessor names the buffer variable used to render templates. Defaults to _erbout; use _buf for erubis.  [Rick Olson]
 
 * assert_select_rjs :remove.  [Dylan Egan]
 
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/caching.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/caching.rb
index bf1a94591e4b7a1344df98e2bed21ed768720e26..28dc45139a9cec665ba0c0c1e3337b5c0ec038af 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/caching.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/caching.rb
@@ -330,7 +330,7 @@ def fragment_cache_key(name)
       def cache_erb_fragment(block, name = {}, options = nil)
         unless perform_caching then block.call; return end
 
-        buffer = eval("_erbout", block.binding)
+        buffer = eval(ActionView::Base.erb_variable, block.binding)
 
         if cache = read_fragment(name, options)
           buffer.concat(cache)
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/base.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/base.rb
index 1342db058dc99ee686c0da8c6b730483c89b20fc..efd2824236a9fdf59ad9680a988f2b92764f400b 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/base.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/base.rb
@@ -183,6 +183,9 @@ class Base
     # that alert()s the caught exception (and then re-raises it). 
     @@debug_rjs = false
     cattr_accessor :debug_rjs
+    
+    @@erb_variable = '_erbout'
+    cattr_accessor :erb_variable
 
     @@template_handlers = HashWithIndifferentAccess.new
  
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/capture_helper.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/capture_helper.rb
index 497ce093ebda2e09950b6aabd3363d14d6a9ebb0..1d6ad560046e5501bb4a78d2d013dc9572cc1e74 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/capture_helper.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/capture_helper.rb
@@ -56,15 +56,15 @@ module CaptureHelper
       def capture(*args, &block)
         # execute the block
         begin
-          buffer = eval("_erbout", block.binding)
+          buffer = eval(ActionView::Base.erb_variable, block.binding)
         rescue
           buffer = nil
         end
         
         if buffer.nil?
-          capture_block(*args, &block)
+          capture_block(*args, &block).to_s
         else
-          capture_erb_with_buffer(buffer, *args, &block)
+          capture_erb_with_buffer(buffer, *args, &block).to_s
         end
       end
       
@@ -99,7 +99,7 @@ def capture_block(*args, &block)
         end
       
         def capture_erb(*args, &block)
-          buffer = eval("_erbout", block.binding)
+          buffer = eval(ActionView::Base.erb_variable, block.binding)
           capture_erb_with_buffer(buffer, *args, &block)
         end
       
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb
index c5b757d6e10a92bff5ac081be0abc7f3d544cb68..8f956133b7f56292920ed91dbd4c152b3752aff7 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_view/helpers/text_helper.rb
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ module TextHelper
       # is equivalent to using:
       #   <%= "hello" %>
       def concat(string, binding)
-        eval("_erbout", binding).concat(string)
+        eval(ActionView::Base.erb_variable, binding) << string
       end
 
       # If +text+ is longer than +length+, +text+ will be truncated to the length of