diff --git a/lib/outputrenderers.php b/lib/outputrenderers.php
index a188789bdcbcd..06dd014ead2b0 100644
--- a/lib/outputrenderers.php
+++ b/lib/outputrenderers.php
@@ -379,7 +379,7 @@ public function standard_end_of_body_html() {
         // This function is normally called from a layout.php file in {@link header()}
         // but some of the content won't be known until later, so we return a placeholder
         // for now. This will be replaced with the real content in {@link footer()}.
-        echo self::END_HTML_TOKEN;
+        return self::END_HTML_TOKEN;
     }
 
     /**