diff --git a/core/modules/taxonomy/config/install/views.view.taxonomy_term.yml b/core/modules/taxonomy/config/install/views.view.taxonomy_term.yml
index 26f32f8..929e63c 100644
--- a/core/modules/taxonomy/config/install/views.view.taxonomy_term.yml
+++ b/core/modules/taxonomy/config/install/views.view.taxonomy_term.yml
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ display:
           admin_label: ''
           empty: true
           tokenize: true
-          entity_id: '!1'
+          entity_id_uuid: '!1'
           view_mode: full
           bypass_access: false
           plugin_id: entity
diff --git a/core/modules/views/config/schema/views.area.schema.yml b/core/modules/views/config/schema/views.area.schema.yml
index 1262a89..244f022 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/config/schema/views.area.schema.yml
+++ b/core/modules/views/config/schema/views.area.schema.yml
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ views.area.entity:
   type: views_area
   label: 'Entity'
   mapping:
-    entity_id:
+    entity_id_uuid:
       type: string
-      label: 'ID'
+      label: 'Entity ID or UUID'
     view_mode:
       type: string
       label: 'View mode'
diff --git a/core/modules/views/src/Plugin/views/area/Entity.php b/core/modules/views/src/Plugin/views/area/Entity.php
index 93d0ad7..e1e9f75 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/src/Plugin/views/area/Entity.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/src/Plugin/views/area/Entity.php
@@ -7,9 +7,12 @@
 
 namespace Drupal\views\Plugin\views\area;
 
+use Drupal\Component\Uuid\Uuid;
+use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Form\FormStateInterface;
 use Drupal\views\Plugin\views\display\DisplayPluginBase;
 use Drupal\views\ViewExecutable;
+use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
 
 /**
  * Provides an area handler which renders an entity in a certain view mode.
@@ -28,6 +31,43 @@ class Entity extends TokenizeAreaPluginBase {
   protected $entityType;
 
   /**
+   * The entity manager.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface
+   */
+  protected $entityManager;
+
+  /**
+   * Constructs a new Entity instance.
+   *
+   * @param array $configuration
+   *   A configuration array containing information about the plugin instance.
+   * @param string $plugin_id
+   *   The plugin_id for the plugin instance.
+   * @param mixed $plugin_definition
+   *   The plugin implementation definition.
+   * @param \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager
+   *   The entity manager.
+   */
+  public function __construct(array $configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition, EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager) {
+    parent::__construct($configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition);
+
+    $this->entityManager = $entity_manager;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public static function create(ContainerInterface $container, array $configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition) {
+    return new static(
+      $configuration,
+      $plugin_id,
+      $plugin_definition,
+      $container->get('entity.manager')
+    );
+  }
+
+  /**
    * Overrides \Drupal\views\Plugin\views\area\AreaPluginBase::init().
    */
   public function init(ViewExecutable $view, DisplayPluginBase $display, array &$options = NULL) {
@@ -45,9 +85,10 @@ protected function defineOptions() {
     // this handler.
     $options['tokenize']['default'] = TRUE;
 
-    $options['entity_id'] = array('default' => '');
-    $options['view_mode'] = array('default' => 'default');
-    $options['bypass_access'] = array('default' => FALSE);
+    // Contains either the entity ID or the UUID.
+    $options['entity_id_uuid'] = ['default' => ''];
+    $options['view_mode'] = ['default' => 'default'];
+    $options['bypass_access'] = ['default' => FALSE];
 
     return $options;
   }
@@ -60,16 +101,19 @@ public function buildOptionsForm(&$form, FormStateInterface $form_state) {
 
     $form['view_mode'] = array(
       '#type' => 'select',
-      '#options' => \Drupal::entityManager()->getViewModeOptions($this->entityType),
+      '#options' => $this->entityManager->getViewModeOptions($this->entityType),
       '#title' => $this->t('View mode'),
       '#default_value' => $this->options['view_mode'],
     );
 
-    $form['entity_id'] = array(
-      '#title' => $this->t('ID'),
+    $label = $this->entityManager->getDefinition($this->entityType)->getLabel();
+    $form['entity_id_uuid'] = [
+      '#title' => $this->t('@entity_type_label ID or UUID', ['@entity_type_label' => $label]),
       '#type' => 'textfield',
-      '#default_value' => $this->options['entity_id'],
-    );
+      '#default_value' => $this->options['entity_id_uuid'],
+      '#autocomplete_route_name' => 'system.entity_autocomplete',
+      '#autocomplete_route_parameters' => ['entity_type' => $this->entityType],
+    ];
 
     $form['bypass_access'] = array(
       '#type' => 'checkbox',
@@ -82,16 +126,35 @@ public function buildOptionsForm(&$form, FormStateInterface $form_state) {
   /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
+  public function submitOptionsForm(&$form, FormStateInterface $form_state, &$options = []) {
+    parent::submitOptionsForm($form, $form_state);
+
+    // Always try to store the UUID, if possible.
+    if ($entity = $this->entityManager->getStorage($this->entityType)->load($options['entity_id_uuid'])) {
+      $options['entity_id_uuid'] = $entity->uuid();
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
   public function render($empty = FALSE) {
     if (!$empty || !empty($this->options['empty'])) {
-      $entity_id = $this->tokenizeValue($this->options['entity_id']);
-      $entity = entity_load($this->entityType, $entity_id);
-      if ($entity && (!empty($this->options['bypass_access']) || $entity->access('view'))) {
-        return entity_view($entity, $this->options['view_mode']);
+      $entity_id_uuid = $this->tokenizeValue($this->options['entity_id_uuid']);
+
+      $entity_storage = $this->entityManager->getStorage($this->entityType);
+      $view_builder = $this->entityManager->getViewBuilder($this->entityType);
+      // Validate whether the ID is a UUID, in that case load the entity as UUID
+      // otherwise use the ID.
+      $is_uuid = Uuid::isValid($entity_id_uuid);
+      if ((!$is_uuid && $entity = $entity_storage->load($entity_id_uuid)) || ($entities = $entity_storage->loadByProperties(['uuid' => $entity_id_uuid])) && ($entity = reset($entities))) {
+        if (!empty($this->options['bypass_access']) || $entity->access('view')) {
+          return $view_builder->view($entity, $this->options['view_mode']);
+        }
       }
     }
 
-    return array();
+    return [];
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/views/src/Tests/Handler/AreaEntityTest.php b/core/modules/views/src/Tests/Handler/AreaEntityTest.php
index af44b44..f68c8f0 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/src/Tests/Handler/AreaEntityTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/src/Tests/Handler/AreaEntityTest.php
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ public function testEntityAreaData() {
    */
   public function testEntityArea() {
 
+    /** @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityInterface[] $entities */
     $entities = array();
     for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++) {
       $random_label = $this->randomMachineName();
@@ -84,6 +85,25 @@ public function testEntityArea() {
     }
 
     $view = Views::getView('test_entity_area');
+    $preview = $view->preview('default', [$entities[1]->id()]);
+    $this->setRawContent(\Drupal::service('renderer')->render($preview));
+
+    $result = $this->xpath('//div[@class = "view-header"]');
+    $this->assertTrue(strpos(trim((string) $result[0]), $entities[0]->label()) !== FALSE, 'The rendered entity appears in the header of the view.');
+    $this->assertTrue(strpos(trim((string) $result[0]), 'full') !== FALSE, 'The rendered entity appeared in the right view mode.');
+
+    $result = $this->xpath('//div[@class = "view-footer"]');
+    $this->assertTrue(strpos(trim((string) $result[0]), $entities[1]->label()) !== FALSE, 'The rendered entity appears in the footer of the view.');
+    $this->assertTrue(strpos(trim((string) $result[0]), 'full') !== FALSE, 'The rendered entity appeared in the right view mode.');
+
+    // Specific a UUID instead of the entity ID.
+    $uuid = $entities[0]->uuid();
+    /** @var \Drupal\views\ViewStorageInterface $view */
+    $view = Views::getView('test_entity_area');
+    $item = $view->getHandler('default', 'header', 'entity_entity_test');
+    $item['entity_id_uuid'] = $uuid;
+    $view->setHandler('default', 'header', 'entity_entity_test', $item);
+
     $preview = $view->preview('default', array($entities[1]->id()));
     $this->drupalSetContent(drupal_render($preview));
 
diff --git a/core/modules/views/tests/modules/views_test_config/test_views/views.view.test_entity_area.yml b/core/modules/views/tests/modules/views_test_config/test_views/views.view.test_entity_area.yml
index 38bbf78..e46754a 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/tests/modules/views_test_config/test_views/views.view.test_entity_area.yml
+++ b/core/modules/views/tests/modules/views_test_config/test_views/views.view.test_entity_area.yml
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ display:
           field: entity_entity_test
           id: entity_entity_test
           table: views
-          entity_id: '1'
+          entity_id_uuid: '1'
           view_mode: full
           plugin_id: entity
       footer:
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ display:
           field: entity_entity_test
           id: entity_entity_test
           table: views
-          entity_id: '!1'
+          entity_id_uuid: '!1'
           view_mode: full
           plugin_id: entity
       fields:
diff --git a/core/modules/views/tests/src/Unit/Plugin/area/EntityTest.php b/core/modules/views/tests/src/Unit/Plugin/area/EntityTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df1882e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/modules/views/tests/src/Unit/Plugin/area/EntityTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,224 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Contains \Drupal\Tests\views\Unit\Plugin\area\EntityTest.
+ */
+
+namespace Drupal\Tests\views\Unit\Plugin\area;
+
+use Drupal\Tests\UnitTestCase;
+use Drupal\views\Plugin\views\area\Entity;
+use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerBuilder;
+
+/**
+ * @coversDefaultClass \Drupal\views\Plugin\views\area\Entity
+ * @group Entity
+ */
+class EntityTest extends UnitTestCase {
+
+  /**
+   * The tested entity area handler.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\views\Plugin\views\area\Entity
+   */
+  protected $entityHandler;
+
+  /**
+   * The mocked entity manager.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
+   */
+  protected $entityManager;
+
+  /**
+   * The mocked entity storage.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityStorageInterface|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
+   */
+  protected $entityStorage;
+
+  /**
+   * The mocked entity view builder.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityViewBuilderInterface|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
+   */
+  protected $entityViewBuilder;
+
+  /**
+   * The mocked view executable.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\views\ViewExecutable|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
+   */
+  protected $executable;
+
+  /**
+   * The mocked display.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\views\Plugin\views\display\DisplayPluginBase|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
+   */
+  protected $display;
+
+  /**
+   * The mocked style plugin.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\views\Plugin\views\style\StylePluginBase|\PHPUnit_Framework_MockObject_MockObject
+   */
+  protected $stylePlugin;
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  protected function setUp() {
+    parent::setUp();
+
+    $this->entityManager = $this->getMock('Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface');
+    $this->entityStorage = $this->getMock('Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityStorageInterface');
+    $this->entityViewBuilder = $this->getMock('Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityViewBuilderInterface');
+
+    $this->executable = $this->getMockBuilder('Drupal\views\ViewExecutable')
+      ->disableOriginalConstructor()
+      ->getMock();
+    $this->display = $this->getMockBuilder('Drupal\views\Plugin\views\display\DisplayPluginBase')
+      ->disableOriginalConstructor()
+      ->getMock();
+    $this->stylePlugin = $this->getMockBuilder('Drupal\views\Plugin\views\style\StylePluginBase')
+      ->disableOriginalConstructor()
+      ->getMock();
+    $this->executable->style_plugin = $this->stylePlugin;
+
+    $this->entityHandler = new Entity(array(), 'entity', array('entity_type' => 'entity_test'), $this->entityManager);
+
+    $token = $this->getMockBuilder('Drupal\Core\Utility\Token')
+      ->disableOriginalConstructor()
+      ->getMock();
+    $token->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('replace')
+      ->willReturnArgument(0);
+    $container = new ContainerBuilder();
+    $container->set('token', $token);
+    \Drupal::setContainer($container);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Ensures that the entity manager returns an entity storage.
+   */
+  protected function setupEntityManager() {
+    $this->entityManager->expects($this->any())
+      ->method('getStorage')
+      ->with('entity_test')
+      ->willReturn($this->entityStorage);
+    $this->entityManager->expects($this->any())
+      ->method('getViewBuilder')
+      ->with('entity_test')
+      ->willReturn($this->entityViewBuilder);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @covers ::render()
+   * @covers ::defineOptions()
+   * @covers ::init()
+   */
+  public function testRenderWithId() {
+    $this->setupEntityManager();
+    $options = [
+      'entity_id_uuid' => 1,
+      'tokenize' => FALSE,
+    ];
+
+    $entity = $this->getMock('Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityInterface');
+    $entity->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('access')
+      ->willReturn(TRUE);
+
+    $this->entityStorage->expects($this->never())
+      ->method('loadByProperties');
+    $this->entityStorage->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('load')
+      ->with(1)
+      ->willReturn($entity);
+    $this->entityViewBuilder->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('view')
+      ->with($entity, 'default')
+      ->willReturn(['#markup' => 'hallo']);
+
+    $this->entityHandler->init($this->executable, $this->display, $options);
+
+    $result = $this->entityHandler->render();
+    $this->assertEquals(['#markup' => 'hallo'], $result);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @covers ::render()
+   * @covers ::defineOptions()
+   * @covers ::init()
+   */
+  public function testRenderWithIdAndToken() {
+    $this->setupEntityManager();
+    $options = [
+      'entity_id_uuid' => '!1',
+      'tokenize' => TRUE,
+    ];
+
+    $entity = $this->getMock('Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityInterface');
+    $entity->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('access')
+      ->willReturn(TRUE);
+
+    $this->stylePlugin->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('tokenizeValue')
+      ->with('!1', 0)
+      ->willReturn(5);
+
+    $this->entityStorage->expects($this->never())
+      ->method('loadByProperties');
+    $this->entityStorage->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('load')
+      ->with(5)
+      ->willReturn($entity);
+    $this->entityViewBuilder->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('view')
+      ->with($entity, 'default')
+      ->willReturn(['#markup' => 'hallo']);
+
+    $this->entityHandler->init($this->executable, $this->display, $options);
+
+    $result = $this->entityHandler->render();
+    $this->assertEquals(['#markup' => 'hallo'], $result);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * @covers ::render()
+   * @covers ::defineOptions()
+   * @covers ::init()
+   */
+  public function testRenderWithUuid() {
+    $this->setupEntityManager();
+    $uuid = '1d52762e-b9d8-4177-908f-572d1a5845a4';
+    $options = [
+      'entity_id_uuid' => $uuid,
+      'tokenize' => FALSE,
+    ];
+    $entity = $this->getMock('Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityInterface');
+    $entity->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('access')
+      ->willReturn(TRUE);
+
+    $this->entityStorage->expects($this->never())
+      ->method('load');
+    $this->entityStorage->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('loadByProperties')
+      ->with(['uuid' => $uuid])
+      ->willReturn([$entity]);
+    $this->entityViewBuilder->expects($this->once())
+      ->method('view')
+      ->with($entity, 'default')
+      ->willReturn(['#markup' => 'hallo']);
+
+    $this->entityHandler->init($this->executable, $this->display, $options);
+
+    $result = $this->entityHandler->render();
+    $this->assertEquals(['#markup' => 'hallo'], $result);
+  }
+
+}