diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Plugin/DependencyRemovalPluginInterface.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Plugin/DependencyRemovalPluginInterface.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4bdf9b9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Component/Plugin/DependencyRemovalPluginInterface.php
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Drupal\Component\Plugin;
+
+/**
+ * Provides an interface for a plugin that reacts on dependencies removal.
+ *
+ * @ingroup plugin_api
+ */
+interface DependencyRemovalPluginInterface {
+
+  /**
+   * Informs the plugin that some configuration it depends on will be deleted.
+   *
+   * This method allows plugins to keep their configuration up-to-date when a
+   * dependency calculated with ::calculateDependencies() is removed.
+   *
+   * This method must return TRUE if the removal event updated the plugin
+   * configuration or FALSE otherwise.
+   *
+   * @param array $dependencies
+   *   An array of dependencies that will be deleted keyed by dependency type.
+   *   Dependency types are 'config', 'content', 'module' and 'theme'.
+   *
+   * @return bool
+   *   TRUE if the plugin configuration has changed, FALSE if not.
+   */
+  public function onDependencyRemoval(array $dependencies);
+
+}
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDisplayBase.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDisplayBase.php
index 7c736e8..3c00a41 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDisplayBase.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDisplayBase.php
@@ -6,12 +6,15 @@
 use Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigEntityInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Field\FieldDefinitionInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\Display\EntityDisplayInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\Plugin\PluginRemovedDependencyTrait;
 
 /**
  * Provides a common base class for entity view and form displays.
  */
 abstract class EntityDisplayBase extends ConfigEntityBase implements EntityDisplayInterface {
 
+  use PluginRemovedDependencyTrait;
+
   /**
    * The 'mode' for runtime EntityDisplay objects used to render entities with
    * arbitrary display options rather than a configured view mode or form mode.
@@ -503,48 +506,6 @@ public function onDependencyRemoval(array $dependencies) {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns the plugin dependencies being removed.
-   *
-   * The function recursively computes the intersection between all plugin
-   * dependencies and all removed dependencies.
-   *
-   * Note: The two arguments do not have the same structure.
-   *
-   * @param array[] $plugin_dependencies
-   *   A list of dependencies having the same structure as the return value of
-   *   ConfigEntityInterface::calculateDependencies().
-   * @param array[] $removed_dependencies
-   *   A list of dependencies having the same structure as the input argument of
-   *   ConfigEntityInterface::onDependencyRemoval().
-   *
-   * @return array
-   *   A recursively computed intersection.
-   *
-   * @see \Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigEntityInterface::calculateDependencies()
-   * @see \Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigEntityInterface::onDependencyRemoval()
-   */
-  protected function getPluginRemovedDependencies(array $plugin_dependencies, array $removed_dependencies) {
-    $intersect = [];
-    foreach ($plugin_dependencies as $type => $dependencies) {
-      if ($removed_dependencies[$type]) {
-        // Config and content entities have the dependency names as keys while
-        // module and theme dependencies are indexed arrays of dependency names.
-        // @see \Drupal\Core\Config\ConfigManager::callOnDependencyRemoval()
-        if (in_array($type, ['config', 'content'])) {
-          $removed = array_intersect_key($removed_dependencies[$type], array_flip($dependencies));
-        }
-        else {
-          $removed = array_values(array_intersect($removed_dependencies[$type], $dependencies));
-        }
-        if ($removed) {
-          $intersect[$type] = $removed;
-        }
-      }
-    }
-    return $intersect;
-  }
-
-  /**
    * Gets the default region.
    *
    * @return string
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginManager.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginManager.php
index cf9bb7e..202b7bc 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginManager.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginManager.php
@@ -76,9 +76,6 @@ public function getSelectionGroups($entity_type_id) {
     $plugins = [];
     $definitions = $this->getDefinitions();
 
-    // Do not display the 'broken' plugin in the UI.
-    unset($definitions['broken']);
-
     foreach ($definitions as $plugin_id => $plugin) {
       if (empty($plugin['entity_types']) || in_array($entity_type_id, $plugin['entity_types'])) {
         $plugins[$plugin['group']][$plugin_id] = $plugin;
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/Broken.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/Broken.php
index e8251e6..3a20dee 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/Broken.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/Broken.php
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@
  *
  * @EntityReferenceSelection(
  *   id = "broken",
- *   label = @Translation("Broken/Missing")
+ *   label = @Translation("Broken/Missing"),
+ *   group = "broken"
  * )
  */
 class Broken extends SelectionPluginBase {
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/DefaultSelection.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/DefaultSelection.php
index 2764866..97c71e4 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/DefaultSelection.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/DefaultSelection.php
@@ -388,4 +388,82 @@ protected function reAlterQuery(AlterableInterface $query, $tag, $base_table) {
     $query->alterMetaData = $old_metadata;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function calculateDependencies() {
+    $dependencies = parent::calculateDependencies();
+
+    $target_entity_type = $this->entityManager->getDefinition($this->configuration['target_type']);
+    // Depend on target bundle configurations. Dependencies for 'target_bundles'
+    // also covers the 'auto_create_bundle' setting, if any, because its value
+    // is included in the 'target_bundles' list.
+    $handler_settings = $this->configuration['handler_settings'];
+    if (!empty($handler_settings['target_bundles'])) {
+      if ($bundle_entity_type_id = $target_entity_type->getBundleEntityType()) {
+        if ($storage = $this->entityManager->getStorage($bundle_entity_type_id)) {
+          foreach ($storage->loadMultiple($handler_settings['target_bundles']) as $bundle) {
+            $dependencies[$bundle->getConfigDependencyKey()][] = $bundle->getConfigDependencyName();
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    return $dependencies;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function onDependencyRemoval(array $dependencies, FieldDefinitionInterface $field_definition = NULL) {
+    $changed = parent::onDependencyRemoval($dependencies);
+
+    // Update the 'target_bundles' handler setting if a bundle config dependency
+    // has been removed.
+    $configuration = $this->getConfiguration();
+    $handler_settings = $configuration['handler_settings'];
+    if (!empty($handler_settings['target_bundles'])) {
+      $target_entity_type = $this->entityManager->getDefinition($this->configuration['target_type']);
+      if ($bundle_entity_type_id = $target_entity_type->getBundleEntityType()) {
+        if ($storage = $this->entityManager->getStorage($bundle_entity_type_id)) {
+          foreach ($storage->loadMultiple($handler_settings['target_bundles']) as $bundle) {
+            if (isset($dependencies[$bundle->getConfigDependencyKey()][$bundle->getConfigDependencyName()])) {
+              unset($handler_settings['target_bundles'][$bundle->id()]);
+
+              // If this bundle is also used in the 'auto_create_bundle'
+              // setting, disable the auto-creation feature completely.
+              $auto_create_bundle = !empty($handler_settings['auto_create_bundle']) ? $handler_settings['auto_create_bundle'] : FALSE;
+              if ($auto_create_bundle && $auto_create_bundle == $bundle->id()) {
+                $handler_settings['auto_create'] = FALSE;
+                $handler_settings['auto_create_bundle'] = NULL;
+              }
+            }
+          }
+
+          if ($handler_settings !== $configuration['handler_settings']) {
+            // Update the configuration only if handler settings were changed.
+            $configuration['handler_settings'] = $handler_settings;
+            $this->setConfiguration($configuration);
+            $changed = TRUE;
+
+            // In case we deleted the only target bundle allowed by the field we
+            // have to log a critical message because the field will not
+            // function correctly anymore.
+            if (!empty($bundle) && ($handler_settings['target_bundles'] === [])) {
+              \Drupal::logger('entity_reference')->critical('The %target_bundle bundle (entity type: %target_entity_type) was deleted. As a result, the %field_name entity reference field (entity_type: %entity_type, bundle: %bundle) no longer has any valid bundle it can reference. The field is not working correctly anymore and has to be adjusted.', [
+                '%target_bundle' => $bundle->label(),
+                '%target_entity_type' => $bundle->getEntityType()->getBundleOf(),
+                '%field_name' => $field_definition->getName(),
+                '%entity_type' => $field_definition->getTargetEntityTypeId(),
+                '%bundle' => $field_definition->getTargetBundle()
+              ]);
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      }
+    }
+
+    return $changed;
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginBase.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginBase.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2617f91
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginBase.php
@@ -0,0 +1,134 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Drupal\Core\Entity\Plugin\EntityReferenceSelection;
+
+use Drupal\Component\Plugin\ConfigurablePluginInterface;
+use Drupal\Component\Plugin\DependencyRemovalPluginInterface;
+use Drupal\Component\Utility\NestedArray;
+use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityReferenceSelection\SelectionInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\Extension\ModuleHandlerInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\Plugin\ContainerFactoryPluginInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\Plugin\PluginBase;
+use Drupal\Core\Session\AccountInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
+
+/**
+ * Provides a base class for configurable selection handlers
+ */
+abstract class SelectionPluginBase extends PluginBase implements SelectionInterface, ContainerFactoryPluginInterface, ConfigurablePluginInterface, DependencyRemovalPluginInterface {
+
+  /**
+   * The entity manager service.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface
+   */
+  protected $entityManager;
+
+  /**
+   * The module handler service.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Extension\ModuleHandlerInterface
+   */
+  protected $moduleHandler;
+
+  /**
+   * The current user.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Session\AccountInterface
+   */
+  protected $currentUser;
+
+  /**
+   * Constructs a new selection object.
+   *
+   * @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 service.
+   * @param \Drupal\Core\Extension\ModuleHandlerInterface $module_handler
+   *   The module handler service.
+   * @param \Drupal\Core\Session\AccountInterface $current_user
+   *   The current user.
+   */
+  public function __construct(array $configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition, EntityManagerInterface $entity_manager, ModuleHandlerInterface $module_handler, AccountInterface $current_user) {
+    parent::__construct($configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition);
+
+    $this->setConfiguration($configuration);
+    $this->entityManager = $entity_manager;
+    $this->moduleHandler = $module_handler;
+    $this->currentUser = $current_user;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@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'),
+      $container->get('module_handler'),
+      $container->get('current_user')
+    );
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function defaultConfiguration() {
+    return [
+      'target_type' => NULL,
+      'handler' => NULL,
+      'handler_settings' => $this->defaultHandlerSettings(),
+    ];
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function getConfiguration() {
+    return $this->configuration;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function setConfiguration(array $configuration) {
+    $this->configuration = NestedArray::mergeDeep(
+      $this->defaultConfiguration(),
+      $configuration
+    );
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function calculateDependencies() {
+    return [];
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function onDependencyRemoval(array $dependencies) {
+    return FALSE;
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the default handler settings.
+   *
+   * @return array
+   *
+   * @todo Add this to SelectionInterface in Drupal 9.0.x.
+   */
+  public function defaultHandlerSettings() {
+    return [];
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldType/EntityReferenceItem.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldType/EntityReferenceItem.php
index 70f9dc9..189d237 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldType/EntityReferenceItem.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Field/Plugin/Field/FieldType/EntityReferenceItem.php
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
 
 namespace Drupal\Core\Field\Plugin\Field\FieldType;
 
+use Drupal\Component\Plugin\DependencyRemovalPluginInterface;
+use Drupal\Component\Plugin\DependentPluginInterface;
 use Drupal\Component\Utility\Html;
 use Drupal\Component\Utility\NestedArray;
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityInterface;
@@ -14,6 +16,7 @@
 use Drupal\Core\Field\PreconfiguredFieldUiOptionsInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Form\FormStateInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Form\OptGroup;
+use Drupal\Core\Plugin\PluginRemovedDependencyTrait;
 use Drupal\Core\Render\Element;
 use Drupal\Core\Session\AccountInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\StringTranslation\TranslatableMarkup;
@@ -40,6 +43,8 @@
  */
 class EntityReferenceItem extends FieldItemBase implements OptionsProviderInterface, PreconfiguredFieldUiOptionsInterface {
 
+  use PluginRemovedDependencyTrait;
+
   /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
@@ -323,6 +328,10 @@ public function fieldSettingsForm(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_state) {
 
     // Get all selection plugins for this entity type.
     $selection_plugins = \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.entity_reference_selection')->getSelectionGroups($this->getSetting('target_type'));
+
+    // Do not display the 'broken' plugin in the UI.
+    unset($selection_plugins['broken']);
+
     $handlers_options = [];
     foreach (array_keys($selection_plugins) as $selection_group_id) {
       // We only display base plugins (e.g. 'default', 'views', ...) and not
@@ -431,18 +440,11 @@ public static function calculateDependencies(FieldDefinitionInterface $field_def
       }
     }
 
-    // Depend on target bundle configurations. Dependencies for 'target_bundles'
-    // also covers the 'auto_create_bundle' setting, if any, because its value
-    // is included in the 'target_bundles' list.
-    $handler = $field_definition->getSetting('handler_settings');
-    if (!empty($handler['target_bundles'])) {
-      if ($bundle_entity_type_id = $target_entity_type->getBundleEntityType()) {
-        if ($storage = $manager->getStorage($bundle_entity_type_id)) {
-          foreach ($storage->loadMultiple($handler['target_bundles']) as $bundle) {
-            $dependencies[$bundle->getConfigDependencyKey()][] = $bundle->getConfigDependencyName();
-          }
-        }
-      }
+    $selection_handler = static::getSelectionManager()->getSelectionHandler($field_definition);
+
+    // Let the selection handler plugin add its dependencies.
+    if ($selection_handler instanceof DependentPluginInterface) {
+      $dependencies += $selection_handler->calculateDependencies();
     }
 
     return $dependencies;
@@ -483,35 +485,28 @@ public static function onDependencyRemoval(FieldDefinitionInterface $field_defin
       }
     }
 
-    // Update the 'target_bundles' handler setting if a bundle config dependency
-    // has been removed.
-    $bundles_changed = FALSE;
-    $handler_settings = $field_definition->getSetting('handler_settings');
-    if (!empty($handler_settings['target_bundles'])) {
-      if ($bundle_entity_type_id = $target_entity_type->getBundleEntityType()) {
-        if ($storage = $entity_manager->getStorage($bundle_entity_type_id)) {
-          foreach ($storage->loadMultiple($handler_settings['target_bundles']) as $bundle) {
-            if (isset($dependencies[$bundle->getConfigDependencyKey()][$bundle->getConfigDependencyName()])) {
-              unset($handler_settings['target_bundles'][$bundle->id()]);
-
-              // If this bundle is also used in the 'auto_create_bundle'
-              // setting, disable the auto-creation feature completely.
-              $auto_create_bundle = !empty($handler_settings['auto_create_bundle']) ? $handler_settings['auto_create_bundle'] : FALSE;
-              if ($auto_create_bundle && $auto_create_bundle == $bundle->id()) {
-                $handler_settings['auto_create'] = NULL;
-                $handler_settings['auto_create_bundle'] = NULL;
-              }
-
-              $bundles_changed = TRUE;
-            }
-          }
+    // Let the selection handler plugin react on dependency removal.
+    $handler = static::getSelectionManager()->getSelectionHandler($field_definition);
+    if ($handler instanceof DependencyRemovalPluginInterface) {
+      $handler_removed_dependencies = static::getPluginRemovedDependencies($handler->calculateDependencies(), $dependencies);
+      if ($handler_removed_dependencies) {
+        if ($handler->onDependencyRemoval($handler_removed_dependencies, $field_definition)) {
+          $field_definition->setSetting('handler_settings', $handler->getConfiguration()['handler_settings']);
+          $changed = TRUE;
+        }
+        if (static::getPluginRemovedDependencies($handler->calculateDependencies(), $dependencies)) {
+          /** @var \Drupal\field\Entity\FieldConfig $field_definition */
+          $field_definition
+            ->setSetting('handler', 'broken')
+            ->setSetting('handler_settings', []);
+          $changed = TRUE;
+          $arguments = [
+            '@field' => "{$field_definition->getTargetEntityTypeId()}.{$field_definition->getTargetBundle()}.{$field_definition->getName()}",
+          ];
+          \Drupal::logger('entity_reference')->critical("Field @field selection handler settings have dependencies that were removed. The field is not working correctly anymore and has to be adjusted.", $arguments);
         }
       }
     }
-    if ($bundles_changed) {
-      $field_definition->setSetting('handler_settings', $handler_settings);
-    }
-    $changed |= $bundles_changed;
 
     return $changed;
   }
@@ -655,4 +650,15 @@ public static function getPreconfiguredOptions() {
     return $options;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * Returns the selection plugin manager service.
+   *
+   * @return \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityReferenceSelection\SelectionPluginManagerInterface
+   *
+   * @todo Properly inject this in Drupal 9.0.x.
+   */
+  protected static function getSelectionManager() {
+    return \Drupal::service('plugin.manager.entity_reference_selection');
+  }
+
 }
diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Plugin/PluginRemovedDependencyTrait.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Plugin/PluginRemovedDependencyTrait.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..77c95c9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Plugin/PluginRemovedDependencyTrait.php
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Drupal\Core\Plugin;
+
+/**
+ * Provides common helper methods for handling plugin dependencies removal.
+ */
+trait PluginRemovedDependencyTrait {
+
+  /**
+   * Returns the plugin dependencies being removed.
+   *
+   * The function recursively computes the intersection between all plugin
+   * dependencies and all removed dependencies.
+   *
+   * Note: The two arguments do not have the same structure.
+   *
+   * @param array[] $plugin_dependencies
+   *   A list of dependencies having the same structure as the return value of
+   *   ConfigEntityInterface::calculateDependencies().
+   * @param array[] $removed_dependencies
+   *   A list of dependencies having the same structure as the input argument of
+   *   ConfigEntityInterface::onDependencyRemoval().
+   *
+   * @return array
+   *   A recursively computed intersection.
+   *
+   * @see \Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigEntityInterface::calculateDependencies()
+   * @see \Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigEntityInterface::onDependencyRemoval()
+   */
+  protected static function getPluginRemovedDependencies(array $plugin_dependencies, array $removed_dependencies) {
+    $intersect = [];
+    foreach ($plugin_dependencies as $type => $dependencies) {
+      if ($removed_dependencies[$type]) {
+        // Config and content entities have the dependency names as keys while
+        // module and theme dependencies are indexed arrays of dependency names.
+        // @see \Drupal\Core\Config\ConfigManager::callOnDependencyRemoval()
+        if (in_array($type, ['config', 'content'])) {
+          $removed = array_intersect_key($removed_dependencies[$type], array_flip($dependencies));
+        }
+        else {
+          $removed = array_values(array_intersect($removed_dependencies[$type], $dependencies));
+        }
+        if ($removed) {
+          $intersect[$type] = $removed;
+        }
+      }
+    }
+    return $intersect;
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/core/modules/field/tests/src/Functional/EntityReference/EntityReferenceDependencyTest.php b/core/modules/field/tests/src/Functional/EntityReference/EntityReferenceDependencyTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..6337bb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/modules/field/tests/src/Functional/EntityReference/EntityReferenceDependencyTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Drupal\Tests\field\Functional\EntityReference;
+
+use Drupal\field\Entity\FieldConfig;
+use Drupal\field\Tests\EntityReference\EntityReferenceTestTrait;
+use Drupal\Tests\BrowserTestBase;
+use Drupal\views\Entity\View;
+
+/**
+ * Tests entity reference field dependencies.
+ *
+ * @group entity_reference
+ */
+class EntityReferenceDependencyTest extends BrowserTestBase {
+
+  use EntityReferenceTestTrait;
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public static $modules = ['node', 'views', 'entity_reference_test', 'entity_test', 'user', 'system', 'field'];
+
+  /**
+   * Tests entity reference field dependencies.
+   */
+  public function testViewsDependencies() {
+    $this->drupalLogin($this->drupalCreateUser(['access content']));
+
+    // Create an entity reference field using ViewsSelection handler.
+    $handler_settings = [
+      'view' => [
+        'view_name' => 'test_entity_reference',
+        'display_name' => 'entity_reference_1',
+        'arguments' => [],
+      ]
+    ];
+    $this->createEntityReferenceField('entity_test', 'entity_test', 'reference', 'Referenced content', 'node', 'views', $handler_settings);
+
+    /** @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityReferenceSelection\SelectionPluginManagerInterface $selection_manager */
+    $selection_manager = $this->container->get('plugin.manager.entity_reference_selection');
+    $field_config = FieldConfig::loadByName('entity_test', 'entity_test', 'reference');
+    $entities = $selection_manager->getSelectionHandler($field_config)->getReferenceableEntities();
+
+    // Check that the selection handler returns an empty list of entities.
+    $this->assertSame([], $entities);
+
+    // Delete the view that provides options for the entity reference field.
+    View::load('test_entity_reference')->delete();
+
+    // Re-load the field config.
+    $field_config = FieldConfig::loadByName('entity_test', 'entity_test', 'reference');
+
+    // Check that the entity reference field was not deleted.
+    $this->assertNotNull($field_config);
+
+    // Check that the entity reference has 'broken' as handler.
+    $this->assertSame('broken', $field_config->getSetting('handler'));
+    $this->assertSame([], $field_config->getSetting('handler_settings'));
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/core/modules/views/src/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/ViewsSelection.php b/core/modules/views/src/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/ViewsSelection.php
index 9911f61..1cb3043 100644
--- a/core/modules/views/src/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/ViewsSelection.php
+++ b/core/modules/views/src/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/ViewsSelection.php
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityReferenceSelection\SelectionPluginBase;
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityReferenceSelection\SelectionTrait;
+use Drupal\Core\Field\FieldException;
 use Drupal\Core\Form\FormStateInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Plugin\ContainerFactoryPluginInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Url;
@@ -124,16 +125,21 @@ public function buildConfigurationForm(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_sta
    *
    * @return bool
    *   Return TRUE if the view was initialized, FALSE otherwise.
+   *
+   * @throws \Drupal\Core\Field\FieldException
+   *   When the view or view display stored in entity reference field handler
+   *   settings are missed or inaccessible.
    */
   protected function initializeView($match = NULL, $match_operator = 'CONTAINS', $limit = 0, $ids = NULL) {
     $view_name = $this->getConfiguration()['view']['view_name'];
     $display_name = $this->getConfiguration()['view']['display_name'];
 
     // Check that the view is valid and the display still exists.
-    $this->view = Views::getView($view_name);
-    if (!$this->view || !$this->view->access($display_name)) {
-      drupal_set_message(t('The reference view %view_name cannot be found.', ['%view_name' => $view_name]), 'warning');
-      return FALSE;
+    if (!$view_name || !($this->view = Views::getView($view_name))) {
+      throw new FieldException("The reference view $view_name cannot be found.");
+    }
+    elseif (!$display_name || !$this->view->access($display_name)) {
+      throw new FieldException("The reference display $view_name:$display_name doesn't exist or is inaccessible.");
     }
     $this->view->setDisplay($display_name);
 
@@ -152,13 +158,13 @@ protected function initializeView($match = NULL, $match_operator = 'CONTAINS', $
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function getReferenceableEntities($match = NULL, $match_operator = 'CONTAINS', $limit = 0) {
+    $this->initializeView($match, $match_operator, $limit);
+
     $display_name = $this->getConfiguration()['view']['display_name'];
     $arguments = $this->getConfiguration()['view']['arguments'];
-    $result = [];
-    if ($this->initializeView($match, $match_operator, $limit)) {
-      // Get the results.
-      $result = $this->view->executeDisplay($display_name, $arguments);
-    }
+
+    // Get the results.
+    $result = $this->view->executeDisplay($display_name, $arguments);
 
     $return = [];
     if ($result) {
@@ -182,15 +188,14 @@ public function countReferenceableEntities($match = NULL, $match_operator = 'CON
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function validateReferenceableEntities(array $ids) {
+    $this->initializeView(NULL, 'CONTAINS', 0, $ids);
+
     $display_name = $this->getConfiguration()['view']['display_name'];
     $arguments = $this->getConfiguration()['view']['arguments'];
-    $result = [];
-    if ($this->initializeView(NULL, 'CONTAINS', 0, $ids)) {
-      // Get the results.
-      $entities = $this->view->executeDisplay($display_name, $arguments);
-      $result = array_keys($entities);
-    }
-    return $result;
+
+    // Get the results.
+    $entities = $this->view->executeDisplay($display_name, $arguments);
+    return array_keys($entities);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -222,4 +227,23 @@ public static function settingsFormValidate($element, FormStateInterface $form_s
     $form_state->setValueForElement($element, $value);
   }
 
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function calculateDependencies() {
+    $dependencies = parent::calculateDependencies();
+
+    try {
+      $this->initializeView(NULL, 'CONTAINS', 0);
+      $view = $this->view->storage;
+      // Add the view as dependency.
+      $dependencies[$view->getConfigDependencyKey()][] = $view->getConfigDependencyName();
+    }
+    catch (\Exception $e) {
+      // Nothing to do.
+    }
+
+    return $dependencies;
+  }
+
 }