diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/edit_handlers.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/edit_handlers.py
index 8d52fc2b2..4d1b54c1a 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/edit_handlers.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/edit_handlers.py
@@ -421,6 +421,8 @@ class MultiFieldPanel(object):
 
 class BaseFieldPanel(EditHandler):
 
+    TEMPLATE_VAR = 'field_panel'
+
     @classmethod
     def widget_overrides(cls):
         """check if a specific widget has been defined for this field"""
@@ -459,6 +461,7 @@ class BaseFieldPanel(EditHandler):
     def render_as_object(self):
         return mark_safe(render_to_string(self.object_template, {
             'self': self,
+            self.TEMPLATE_VAR: self,
             'field': self.bound_field,
         }))
 
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/userbar/frame.html b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/userbar/frame.html
index c9a5588b3..ec5f68cbe 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/userbar/frame.html
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templates/wagtailadmin/userbar/frame.html
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
     var wagtail = wagtail || {};
     wagtail.static_root = '{% static "wagtailadmin/" %}';
     wagtail.userbar = {
-        src: '{% if revision_id %}{% url "wagtailadmin_userbar_moderation" revision_id %}{% else %}{% url "wagtailadmin_userbar_frontend" page.self.id %}{% endif %}',
+        src: '{% if revision_id %}{% url "wagtailadmin_userbar_moderation" revision_id %}{% else %}{% url "wagtailadmin_userbar_frontend" page.id %}{% endif %}',
         origin:'{% if request.is_secure %}https{% else %}http{% endif %}://{{ request.get_host }}'
     };
     (function(d) {
@@ -13,4 +13,4 @@
         var s = d.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(u, s);
     })(document);
 </script>
-<!-- end Wagtail user bar embed code -->
\ No newline at end of file
+<!-- end Wagtail user bar embed code -->
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templatetags/wagtailuserbar.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templatetags/wagtailuserbar.py
index 1e2d27477..f00bdb5cb 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templatetags/wagtailuserbar.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/templatetags/wagtailuserbar.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from django import template
 from django.template.loader import render_to_string
 
-from wagtail.wagtailcore.models import Page
+from wagtail.wagtailcore.models import Page, PAGE_TEMPLATE_VAR
 
 
 register = template.Library()
@@ -16,10 +16,13 @@ def wagtailuserbar(context):
     if not request.user.has_perm('wagtailadmin.access_admin'):
         return ''
 
-    # Only render if the context contains a 'self' variable referencing a saved page
-    if 'self' in context and isinstance(context['self'], Page) and context['self'].id is not None:
-        pass
-    else:
+    # Only render if the context contains a 'PAGE_TEMPLATE_VAR' variable
+    # referencing a saved page
+    if PAGE_TEMPLATE_VAR not in context:
+        return ''
+
+    page = context[PAGE_TEMPLATE_VAR]
+    if not isinstance(page, Page) or page.id is None:
         return ''
 
     try:
@@ -30,6 +33,6 @@ def wagtailuserbar(context):
     # Render the frame to contain the userbar items
     return render_to_string('wagtailadmin/userbar/frame.html', {
         'request': request,
-        'page': context,
+        'page': page,
         'revision_id': revision_id
     })
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/tests/test_userbar.py b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/tests/test_userbar.py
index a46872ac1..3bc6523a0 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailadmin/tests/test_userbar.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailadmin/tests/test_userbar.py
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ from django.contrib.auth import get_user_model
 from django.contrib.auth.models import AnonymousUser
 
 from wagtail.tests.utils import WagtailTestUtils
-from wagtail.wagtailcore.models import Page
+from wagtail.wagtailcore.models import Page, PAGE_TEMPLATE_VAR
 from wagtail.tests.testapp.models import BusinessIndex, BusinessChild
 
 
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ class TestUserbarTag(TestCase):
     def test_userbar_tag(self):
         template = Template("{% load wagtailuserbar %}{% wagtailuserbar %}")
         content = template.render(Context({
-            'self': self.homepage,
+            PAGE_TEMPLATE_VAR: self.homepage,
             'request': self.dummy_request(self.user),
         }))
 
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ class TestUserbarTag(TestCase):
     def test_userbar_tag_anonymous_user(self):
         template = Template("{% load wagtailuserbar %}{% wagtailuserbar %}")
         content = template.render(Context({
-            'self': self.homepage,
+            PAGE_TEMPLATE_VAR: self.homepage,
             'request': self.dummy_request(),
         }))
 
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailcore/blocks/base.py b/wagtail/wagtailcore/blocks/base.py
index 3764b8cc5..362fb7931 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailcore/blocks/base.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailcore/blocks/base.py
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ class Block(six.with_metaclass(BaseBlock, object)):
     name = ''
     creation_counter = 0
 
+    TEMPLATE_VAR = 'value'
+
     class Meta:
         label = None
         icon = "placeholder"
@@ -206,7 +208,10 @@ class Block(six.with_metaclass(BaseBlock, object)):
         """
         template = getattr(self.meta, 'template', None)
         if template:
-            return render_to_string(template, {'self': value})
+            return render_to_string(template, {
+                'self': value,
+                self.TEMPLATE_VAR: value,
+            })
         else:
             return self.render_basic(value)
 
diff --git a/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py b/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py
index 77e36fd10..20ad150ab 100644
--- a/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py
+++ b/wagtail/wagtailcore/models.py
@@ -44,6 +44,8 @@ from wagtail.wagtailsearch.backends import get_search_backend
 
 logger = logging.getLogger('wagtail.core')
 
+PAGE_TEMPLATE_VAR = 'page'
+
 
 class SiteManager(models.Manager):
     def get_by_natural_key(self, hostname, port):
@@ -549,6 +551,7 @@ class Page(six.with_metaclass(PageBase, MP_Node, ClusterableModel, index.Indexed
 
     def get_context(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
         return {
+            PAGE_TEMPLATE_VAR: self,
             'self': self,
             'request': request,
         }