diff --git a/rest_framework/templatetags/rest_framework.py b/rest_framework/templatetags/rest_framework.py
index c228d5c3d..864d64dd0 100644
--- a/rest_framework/templatetags/rest_framework.py
+++ b/rest_framework/templatetags/rest_framework.py
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ def optional_login(request):
     except NoReverseMatch:
         return ''
 
-    snippet = "<li><a href='%s?next=%s'>Log in</a></li>" % (login_url, escape(request.path))
+    snippet = "<li><a href='{href}?next={next}'>Log in</a></li>".format(href=login_url, next=escape(request.path))
     return snippet
 
 
@@ -53,19 +53,19 @@ def optional_logout(request, user):
     try:
         logout_url = reverse('rest_framework:logout')
     except NoReverseMatch:
-        return '<li class="navbar-text">{0}</li>'.format(user)
+        return '<li class="navbar-text">{user}</li>'.format(user=user)
 
     snippet = """<li class="dropdown">
         <a href="#" class="dropdown-toggle" data-toggle="dropdown">
-            {0}
+            {user}
             <b class="caret"></b>
         </a>
         <ul class="dropdown-menu">
-            <li><a href='{1}?next={2}'>Log out</a></li>
+            <li><a href='{href}?next={next}'>Log out</a></li>
         </ul>
     </li>"""
 
-    return snippet.format(user, logout_url, escape(request.path))
+    return snippet.format(user=user, href=logout_url, next=escape(request.path))
 
 
 @register.simple_tag