diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginManager.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginManager.php
index 59aa5cd..5aadd3d 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginManager.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionPluginManager.php
@@ -49,9 +49,7 @@ public function getInstance(array $options) {
       'handler_settings' => array(),
     );
 
-    $plugin_id = isset($options['handler_settings']['plugin_id']) ? $options['handler_settings']['plugin_id'] : $this->getPluginId($options['target_type'], $options['handler']);
-
-    return $this->createInstance($plugin_id, $options);
+    return $this->createInstance($this->getPluginId($options['target_type'], $options['handler']), $options);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/modules/entity_reference/src/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php b/core/modules/entity_reference/src/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php
index 71dc0d0..fb9898c 100644
--- a/core/modules/entity_reference/src/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php
+++ b/core/modules/entity_reference/src/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php
@@ -221,4 +221,15 @@ public static function fieldSettingsToConfigData(array $settings, FieldConfigInt
     return $settings;
   }
 
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public static function fieldSettingsFromConfigData(array $settings) {
+    // The 'plugin_id' handler setting is saved to config only to satisfy
+    // config schema and it is not used on runtime.
+    unset($settings['handler_settings']['plugin_id']);
+
+    return $settings;
+  }
+
 }