diff --git a/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/ContentEntityNormalizer.php b/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/ContentEntityNormalizer.php
index 313d930..788afca 100644
--- a/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/ContentEntityNormalizer.php
+++ b/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/ContentEntityNormalizer.php
@@ -124,8 +124,9 @@ public function denormalize($data, $class, $format = NULL, array $context = arra
       throw new UnexpectedValueException('The type link relation must be specified.');
     }
 
-    // Create the entity.
+    // Identify entity type and bundle.
     $typed_data_ids = $this->getTypedDataIds($data['_links']['type']);
+
     // Figure out the language to use.
     if (isset($data['langcode'])) {
       $langcode = $data['langcode'][0]['value'];
@@ -139,26 +140,25 @@ public function denormalize($data, $class, $format = NULL, array $context = arra
       $langcode = LanguageInterface::LANGCODE_NOT_SPECIFIED;
     }
 
+    // Get definition of entity type and bundle (if any).
     $entity_type = $this->entityManager->getDefinition($typed_data_ids['entity_type']);
     $values = array('langcode' => $langcode);
 
     if ($entity_type->hasKey('bundle')) {
       $bundle_key = $entity_type->getKey('bundle');
       $values[$bundle_key] = $typed_data_ids['bundle'];
-      // Unset the bundle key from data, if it's there.
-      unset($data[$bundle_key]);
     }
 
+    // Create the entity.
     $entity = $this->entityManager->getStorage($typed_data_ids['entity_type'])->create($values);
 
     // Special handling for PATCH: destroy all possible default values that
     // might have been set on entity creation. We want an "empty" entity that
-    // will only get filled with fields from the data array. But keep langcode
-    // and the bundle key, because they are already passed in and removed from
-    // data.
+    // will only get filled with fields from the data array. But keep langcode,
+    // because it is already passed in and removed from $data.
     if (isset($context['request_method']) && $context['request_method'] == 'patch') {
       foreach ($entity as $field_name => $field) {
-        if (!in_array($field_name, array('langcode', $entity_type->getKey('bundle')))) {
+        if ($field_name != 'langcode') {
           $entity->set($field_name, NULL);
         }
       }
diff --git a/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php b/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php
index 72e3f1e..de58a8f 100644
--- a/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php
+++ b/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ protected function constructValue($data, $context) {
     if ($id = $this->entityResolver->resolve($this, $data, $target_type)) {
       $constructed = array('target_id' => $id);
       foreach ($field_item->getProperties() as $property => $value) {
-        if ($property != 'target_id' && isset($data[$property])) {
+        if ($property != 'target_id' && array_key_exists($property, $data)) {
           $constructed[$property] = $data[$property];
         }
       }
diff --git a/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/DenormalizeTest.php b/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/DenormalizeTest.php
index 761b804..95035af 100644
--- a/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/DenormalizeTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/DenormalizeTest.php
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@ public function testBasicFieldDenormalization() {
   /**
    * Verifies that only specified properties get populated in the PATCH context.
    */
-  public function testPatchDenormailzation() {
+  public function testPatchDenormalization() {
     $data = array(
       '_links' => array(
         'type' => array(
diff --git a/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/EntityTest.php b/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/EntityTest.php
index b3421cf..2d76217 100644
--- a/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/EntityTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/EntityTest.php
@@ -174,10 +174,6 @@ public function testComment() {
 
     // Loop over the remaining fields and verify that they are identical.
     foreach ($original_values as $field_name => $field_values) {
-      // The target field comes with revision id which is not set.
-      if (array_key_exists('revision_id', $field_values[0])) {
-        unset($field_values[0]['revision_id']);
-      }
       $this->assertEqual($field_values, $denormalized_comment->get($field_name)->getValue());
     }
   }
diff --git a/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/FileFieldNormalizeTest.php b/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/FileFieldNormalizeTest.php
index 6c53217..e787ab3 100644
--- a/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/FileFieldNormalizeTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/hal/src/Tests/FileFieldNormalizeTest.php
@@ -112,7 +112,6 @@ public function testImageFieldNormalize() {
 
     $serialized = $this->container->get('serializer')->serialize($entity, $this->format);
     $deserialized = $this->container->get('serializer')->deserialize($serialized, 'Drupal\entity_test\Entity\EntityTest', $this->format);
-    // @todo Fails because the field in $entity has display and description set (to NULL)
     $this->assertEqual($entity->toArray()['field_image'], $deserialized->toArray()['field_image'], "Image field is preserved.");
   }
 }