diff --git a/src/wp-includes/formatting.php b/src/wp-includes/formatting.php
index 238bcc738c..6f5d0432a8 100644
--- a/src/wp-includes/formatting.php
+++ b/src/wp-includes/formatting.php
@@ -4296,16 +4296,20 @@ function esc_sql( $data ) {
  * is applied to the returned cleaned URL.
  *
  * @since 2.8.0
- *
- * @param string   $url       The URL to be cleaned.
- * @param string[] $protocols Optional. An array of acceptable protocols.
- *                            Defaults to return value of wp_allowed_protocols().
- * @param string   $_context  Private. Use esc_url_raw() for database usage.
+ * @since 5.8.0 Added the `$default_protocol` parameter.
+ *
+ * @param string   $url              The URL to be cleaned.
+ * @param string[] $protocols        Optional. An array of acceptable protocols.
+ *                                   Defaults to return value of wp_allowed_protocols().
+ * @param string   $_context         Private. Use esc_url_raw() for database usage.
+ * @param string   $default_protocol Use to specify different default, for historical
+ *                                   reasons esc_url defaults to http:// pass string
+ *                                   https:// to change the default behavior.
  * @return string The cleaned URL after the {@see 'clean_url'} filter is applied.
  *                An empty string is returned if `$url` specifies a protocol other than
  *                those in `$protocols`, or if `$url` contains an empty string.
  */
-function esc_url( $url, $protocols = null, $_context = 'display' ) {
+function esc_url( $url, $protocols = null, $_context = 'display', $default_protocol = 'http://' ) {
 	$original_url = $url;
 
 	if ( '' === $url ) {
@@ -4329,10 +4333,11 @@ function esc_url( $url, $protocols = null, $_context = 'display' ) {
 	 * If the URL doesn't appear to contain a scheme, we presume
 	 * it needs http:// prepended (unless it's a relative link
 	 * starting with /, # or ?, or a PHP file).
+	 * Since 5.8, it uses $default_protocol to allow https:// presumption
 	 */
 	if ( strpos( $url, ':' ) === false && ! in_array( $url[0], array( '/', '#', '?' ), true ) &&
 		! preg_match( '/^[a-z0-9-]+?\.php/i', $url ) ) {
-		$url = 'http://' . $url;
+		$url = $default_protocol . $url;
 	}
 
 	// Replace ampersands and single quotes only when displaying.
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/tests/formatting/EscUrl.php b/tests/phpunit/tests/formatting/EscUrl.php
index 13ecc4af66..076da6234f 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/tests/formatting/EscUrl.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/tests/formatting/EscUrl.php
@@ -262,4 +262,20 @@ EOT;
 		$this->assertSame( 'http://[::FFFF::127.0.0.1]/?foo%5Bbar%5D=baz', esc_url( 'http://[::FFFF::127.0.0.1]/?foo[bar]=baz' ) );
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * @ticket 52886
+	 */
+	function test_default_protocol() {
+		$this->assertSame( 'http://example.com', esc_url( 'example.com' ) );
+		$this->assertSame(
+			'https://example.com',
+			esc_url(
+				'example.com',
+				null,
+				'display',
+				'https://'
+			)
+		);
+	}
+
 }