diff --git a/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Encoder/JsonEncoder.php b/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Encoder/JsonEncoder.php
index 639ae32..4d932ff 100644
--- a/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Encoder/JsonEncoder.php
+++ b/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Encoder/JsonEncoder.php
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 /**
  * @file
- * Definition of Drupal\hal\JsonEncoder.
+ * Contains \Drupal\hal\JsonEncoder.
  */
 
 namespace Drupal\hal\Encoder;
@@ -30,4 +30,11 @@ public function supportsEncoding($format) {
     return $format == $this->format;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Overrides \Symfony\Component\Serializer\Encoder\JsonEncoder::supportsDecoding()
+   */
+  public function supportsDecoding($format) {
+    return $format == $this->format;
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Normalizer/EntityNormalizer.php b/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Normalizer/EntityNormalizer.php
index 2ac921e..0fa3600 100644
--- a/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Normalizer/EntityNormalizer.php
+++ b/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Normalizer/EntityNormalizer.php
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ public function normalize($entity, $format = NULL, array $context = array()) {
       $properties = $entity->getProperties();
     }
     foreach ($properties as $property) {
-      if ($property->getName() == 'id') {
+      // In some cases, Entity API will return NULL array items. Ensure this is
+      // a real property and that it is not the internal id.
+      if (!is_object($property) || $property->getName() == 'id') {
         continue;
       }
       $normalized_property = $this->serializer->normalize($property, $format, $context);
@@ -122,20 +124,17 @@ public function denormalize($data, $class, $format = NULL, array $context = arra
     // Iterate through remaining items in data array. These should all
     // correspond to fields.
     foreach ($data as $field_name => $field_data) {
-      // If the incoming value is an empty array, set the property to mark it
-      // for deletion.
-      if (empty($field_data) && is_array($field_data)) {
-        $entity->{$field_name} = array();
-      }
+      // Remove any values that were set as a part of entity creation (e.g
+      // uuid). If this field is set to an empty array in the data, this will
+      // also have the effect of marking the field for deletion in REST module.
+      $entity->{$field_name} = array();
 
       // Get the class of the field. This will generally be the default Field
       // class.
       $field = $entity->get($field_name);
       $class = get_class($field);
       $context['target_instance'] = $field;
-      $field_value = $this->serializer->denormalize($field_data, $class, $format, $context);
-      //$entity->getTranslation($langcode)
-        //->set($field_name, $field_value);
+      $field = $this->serializer->denormalize($field_data, $class, $format, $context);
     }
 
     return $entity;
diff --git a/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Tests/DenormalizeTest.php b/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Tests/DenormalizeTest.php
index a046720..9ff32e7 100644
--- a/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Tests/DenormalizeTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/hal/lib/Drupal/hal/Tests/DenormalizeTest.php
@@ -105,6 +105,11 @@ public function testBasicFieldDenormalization() {
           'href' => url('rest/types/entity_test/entity_test', array('absolute' => TRUE)),
         ),
       ),
+      'uuid' => array(
+        array(
+          'value' => 'e5c9fb96-3acf-4a8d-9417-23de1b6c3311',
+        ),
+      ),
       'field_test_text' => array(
         array(
           'value' => $this->randomName(),
@@ -156,6 +161,7 @@ public function testBasicFieldDenormalization() {
       ),
     );
     $denormalized = $this->container->get('serializer')->denormalize($data, $this->entityClass, $this->format);
+    $this->assertEqual($data['uuid'], $denormalized->get('uuid')->getValue(), 'A preset value (e.g. UUID) is overridden by incoming data.');
     $this->assertEqual($data['field_test_text'], $denormalized->get('field_test_text')->getValue(), 'A basic text field is denormalized.');
     $this->assertEqual($expected_value_en, $denormalized->get('field_test_translatable_text')->getValue(), 'Values in the default language are properly handled for a translatable field.');
     $this->assertEqual($expected_value_de, $denormalized->getTranslation('de')->get('field_test_translatable_text')->getValue(), 'Values in a translation language are properly handled for a translatable field.');