diff --git a/entityreference.module b/entityreference.module
index e0bc51d..eb1fd38 100644
--- a/entityreference.module
+++ b/entityreference.module
@@ -641,7 +641,10 @@ function entityreference_field_widget_form(&$form, &$form_state, $field, $instan
     '#entity_type' => NULL,
     '#entity' => NULL,
   );
-  $handler = entityreference_get_selection_handler($field, $instance, $element['#entity_type'], $element['#entity']);
+
+  $entity_type = $instance['entity_type'];
+  $entity = $element['#entity'];
+  $handler = entityreference_get_selection_handler($field, $instance, $entity_type, $entity);
 
   if ($instance['widget']['type'] == 'entityreference_autocomplete' || $instance['widget']['type'] == 'entityreference_autocomplete_tags') {
 
@@ -667,8 +670,8 @@ function entityreference_field_widget_form(&$form, &$form_state, $field, $instan
     // Load those entities and loop through them to extract their labels.
     $entities = entity_load($field['settings']['target_type'], $entity_ids);
 
-    foreach ($entities as $entity_id => $entity) {
-      $label = $handler->getLabel($entity);
+    foreach ($entities as $entity_id => $entity_item) {
+      $label = $handler->getLabel($entity_item);
       $key = "$label ($entity_id)";
       // Labels containing commas or quotes must be wrapped in quotes.
       if (strpos($key, ',') !== FALSE || strpos($key, '"') !== FALSE) {
@@ -677,25 +680,37 @@ function entityreference_field_widget_form(&$form, &$form_state, $field, $instan
       $entity_labels[] = $key;
     }
 
+    // Prepare the autocomplete path.
+    if (!empty($instance['widget']['settings']['path'])) {
+      $autocomplete_path = $instance['widget']['settings']['path'];
+    }
+    else {
+      $autocomplete_path = $instance['widget']['type'] == 'entityreference_autocomplete' ? 'entityreference/autocomplete/single' : 'entityreference/autocomplete/tags';
+    }
+
+    $autocomplete_path .= '/' . $field['field_name'] . '/' . $instance['entity_type'] . '/' . $instance['bundle'];
+    if (!empty($entity)) {
+      list($id) = entity_extract_ids($entity_type, $entity);
+      $autocomplete_path .= '/' . $id;
+    }
+
     if ($instance['widget']['type'] == 'entityreference_autocomplete') {
-      $path = !empty($instance['widget']['settings']['path']) ? $instance['widget']['settings']['path'] : 'entityreference/autocomplete/single';
       $element += array(
         '#type' => 'textfield',
         '#maxlength' => 1024,
         '#default_value' => implode(', ', $entity_labels),
-        '#autocomplete_path' => $path . '/' . $field['field_name'] . '/' . $instance['entity_type'] . '/' . $instance['bundle'],
+        '#autocomplete_path' => $autocomplete_path,
         '#size' => $instance['widget']['settings']['size'],
         '#element_validate' => array('_entityreference_autocomplete_validate'),
       );
       return array('target_id' => $element);
     }
     else {
-      $path = !empty($instance['widget']['settings']['path']) ? $instance['widget']['settings']['path'] : 'entityreference/autocomplete/tags';
       $element += array(
         '#type' => 'textfield',
         '#maxlength' => 1024,
         '#default_value' => implode(', ', $entity_labels),
-        '#autocomplete_path' => $path . '/' . $field['field_name'] . '/' . $instance['entity_type'] . '/' . $instance['bundle'],
+        '#autocomplete_path' => $autocomplete_path,
         '#size' => $instance['widget']['settings']['size'],
         '#element_validate' => array('_entityreference_autocomplete_tags_validate'),
       );
@@ -747,8 +762,22 @@ function entityreference_field_widget_error($element, $error) {
 
 /**
  * Menu callback: autocomplete the label of an entity.
- */
-function entityreference_autocomplete_callback($type, $field_name, $entity_type, $bundle_name, $string = '') {
+ *
+ * @param $type
+ *   The widget type (i.e. 'single' or 'tags').
+ * @param $field_name
+ *   The name of the entity-reference field.
+ * @param $entity_type
+ *   The entity type.
+ * @param $bundle_name
+ *   The bundle name.
+ * @param $entity_id
+ *   Optional; The entity ID the entity-reference field is attached to.
+ *   Defautls to NULL.
+ * @param $string
+ *   The label of the entity to query by.
+ */
+function entityreference_autocomplete_callback($type, $field_name, $entity_type, $bundle_name, $entity_id = NULL, $string = '') {
   $field = field_info_field($field_name);
   $instance = field_info_instance($entity_type, $field_name, $bundle_name);
   $matches = array();
@@ -757,7 +786,8 @@ function entityreference_autocomplete_callback($type, $field_name, $entity_type,
     return MENU_ACCESS_DENIED;
   }
 
-  $handler = entityreference_get_selection_handler($field, $instance);
+  $entity = !empty($entity_id) ? entity_load_single($entity_type, $entity_id) : NULL;
+  $handler = entityreference_get_selection_handler($field, $instance, $entity_type, $entity);
 
   if ($type == 'tags') {
     // The user enters a comma-separated list of tags. We only autocomplete the last tag.