diff --git a/reportbuilder/classes/local/report/action.php b/reportbuilder/classes/local/report/action.php
index 526325f9905..cd006305504 100644
--- a/reportbuilder/classes/local/report/action.php
+++ b/reportbuilder/classes/local/report/action.php
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@ declare(strict_types=1);
 
 namespace core_reportbuilder\local\report;
 
+use action_menu_link;
 use lang_string;
 use moodle_url;
 use pix_icon;
@@ -94,14 +95,13 @@ final class action {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Return rendered action link suitable for output, or null if the action cannot be displayed (because one of it's callbacks
+     * Return action menu link suitable for output, or null if the action cannot be displayed (because one of its callbacks
      * returned false, {@see add_callback})
      *
      * @param stdClass $row
-     * @return string|null
+     * @return action_menu_link|null
      */
-    public function get_action_link(stdClass $row): ?string {
-        global $OUTPUT;
+    public function get_action_link(stdClass $row): ?action_menu_link {
 
         foreach ($this->callbacks as $callback) {
             $row = clone $row; // Clone so we don't modify the shared row inside a callback.
@@ -116,8 +116,6 @@ final class action {
             self::replace_placeholders($this->url->params(), $row)
         );
 
-        $this->attributes['role'] = 'button';
-
         // Ensure we have a title attribute set, if one wasn't already provided.
         if (!array_key_exists('title', $this->attributes)) {
             $this->attributes['title'] = (string) $this->title;
@@ -136,7 +134,7 @@ final class action {
         $title = $attributes['title'];
         unset($attributes['title']);
 
-        return $OUTPUT->action_link($url, $title, null, $attributes, $this->icon);
+        return new action_menu_link($url, $this->icon, $title, null, $attributes);
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/reportbuilder/tests/local/report/action_test.php b/reportbuilder/tests/local/report/action_test.php
index f1d0969e082..316a3f114e7 100644
--- a/reportbuilder/tests/local/report/action_test.php
+++ b/reportbuilder/tests/local/report/action_test.php
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ class action_test extends advanced_testcase {
 
         // Assert correct title appears inside action link, after the icon.
         $actionlink = $action->get_action_link((object) $row);
-        $this->assertStringEndsWith('</i>Yes</a>', $actionlink);
+        $this->assertEquals('Yes', $actionlink->text);
     }
 
     /**
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ class action_test extends advanced_testcase {
 
         // This is the action URL we expect.
         $expectedactionurl = (new moodle_url('/', ['id' => 42, 'action' => 'edit']))->out(false);
-        $this->assertStringContainsString("href=\"{$expectedactionurl}\"", $actionlink);
+        $this->assertEquals($expectedactionurl, $actionlink->url->out(false));
     }
 
     /**
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ class action_test extends advanced_testcase {
             'data-action' => 'edit',
         ];
         foreach ($expectedattributes as $key => $value) {
-            $this->assertStringContainsString("{$key}=\"{$value}\"", $actionlink);
+            $this->assertEquals($value, $actionlink->attributes[$key]);
         }
     }