diff --git a/codesniffer.ruleset.xml b/codesniffer.ruleset.xml
index e6d2cab..2d06727 100644
--- a/codesniffer.ruleset.xml
+++ b/codesniffer.ruleset.xml
@@ -13,12 +13,6 @@
 		<exclude name="PEAR.Functions.FunctionCallSignature.Indent" />
 	</rule>
 
-	<rule ref="WordPress.XSS.EscapeOutput">
-    <properties>
-        <property name="customAutoEscapedFunctions" value="$html" type="array" />
-    </properties>
-</rule>
-
 	<!-- Include sniffs for PHP cross-version compatibility. -->
 	<config name="testVersion" value="5.2-99.0"/>
 	<rule ref="PHPCompatibility"/>
diff --git a/global-templates/pagination.php b/global-templates/pagination.php
index 062a515..a0eb343 100644
--- a/global-templates/pagination.php
+++ b/global-templates/pagination.php
@@ -47,12 +47,14 @@ function understrap_pagination() {
 		$class = 1 == $paged ? ' class="active page-item"' : ' class="page-item"';
 
 		printf( '<li %s><a class="page-link" href="%s"><i class="fa fa-step-backward" aria-hidden="true"></i></a></li>' . "\n",
-		$class, esc_url( get_pagenum_link( 1 ) ), '1' );
+		$class, // WPCS: XSS OK.
+		esc_url( get_pagenum_link( 1 ) ), '1' );
 
 		/**    Previous Post Link */
 		if ( get_previous_posts_link() ) {
 			printf( '<li class="page-item"><span class="page-link">%1$s</span></li> ' . "\n",
-			get_previous_posts_link( '<span aria-hidden="true">&laquo;</span><span class="sr-only">Previous page</span>' ) );
+			get_previous_posts_link(  // WPCS: XSS OK.
+			 '<span aria-hidden="true">&laquo;</span><span class="sr-only">Previous page</span>' ) );
 		}
 
 		if ( ! in_array( 2, $links ) ) {
@@ -64,7 +66,8 @@ function understrap_pagination() {
 	sort( $links );
 	foreach ( (array) $links as $link ) {
 		$class = $paged == $link ? ' class="active page-item"' : ' class="page-item"';
-		printf( '<li %s><a href="%s" class="page-link">%s</a></li>' . "\n", $class,
+		printf( '<li %s><a href="%s" class="page-link">%s</a></li>' . "\n", 
+			$class, // WPCS: XSS OK.
 			esc_url( get_pagenum_link( $link ) ), $link );
 	}