diff --git a/core/modules/rest/src/Tests/NodeTest.php b/core/modules/rest/src/Tests/NodeTest.php
index 8269699..c2b26a4 100644
--- a/core/modules/rest/src/Tests/NodeTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/rest/src/Tests/NodeTest.php
@@ -157,7 +157,6 @@ public function testBundleNormalization() {
       'title' => [['value' => $this->randomString() ]],
     ];
 
-    // testing
     $this->postNode($data);
 
     // Make sure the response is "CREATED".
diff --git a/core/modules/rest/src/Tests/RESTTestBase.php b/core/modules/rest/src/Tests/RESTTestBase.php
index 79a207d..6a461ab 100644
--- a/core/modules/rest/src/Tests/RESTTestBase.php
+++ b/core/modules/rest/src/Tests/RESTTestBase.php
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ protected function removeNodeFieldsForNonAdminUsers(NodeInterface $node) {
   }
 
   /**
-   * Check to see if the http request response body is identical to the expected
+   * Check to see if the HTTP request response body is identical to the expected
    * value.
    *
    * @param $expected
@@ -415,6 +415,6 @@ protected function removeNodeFieldsForNonAdminUsers(NodeInterface $node) {
    *   TRUE if the assertion succeeded, FALSE otherwise.
    */
   protected function assertResponseBody($expected, $message = '', $group = 'REST Response') {
-    return $this->assertIdentical($expected, $this->responseBody, $message ? $message : SafeMarkup::format('Response body @expected (expected) is equal to @response (actual).', array('@expected' => var_export($expected, TRUE), '@response' => var_export($this->responseBody, TRUE))), $group);
+    return $this->assertIdentical($expected, $this->responseBody, $message ? $message : strtr('Response body @expected (expected) is equal to @response (actual).', array('@expected' => var_export($expected, TRUE), '@response' => var_export($this->responseBody, TRUE))), $group);
   }
 }
diff --git a/core/modules/serialization/src/Normalizer/EntityNormalizer.php b/core/modules/serialization/src/Normalizer/EntityNormalizer.php
index 1706f9a..e806ff6 100644
--- a/core/modules/serialization/src/Normalizer/EntityNormalizer.php
+++ b/core/modules/serialization/src/Normalizer/EntityNormalizer.php
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ public function denormalize($data, $class, $format = NULL, array $context = [])
 
     // Don't try to create an entity without an entity type id.
     if (!$entity_type_definition) {
-      throw new UnexpectedValueException('A valid entity type is required for denormalization.');
+      throw new UnexpectedValueException(sprintf('The specified entity type "%s" does not exist. A valid etnity type is required for denormalization', $entity_type_id));
     }
 
     // The bundle property will be required to denormalize a bundleable entity.
@@ -62,24 +62,24 @@ public function denormalize($data, $class, $format = NULL, array $context = [])
       // Get the base field definitions for this entity type.
       $base_field_definitions = $this->entityManager->getBaseFieldDefinitions($entity_type_id);
 
-      // Set a default key ID.
-      $key_id = 'value';
-      // Get the ID key from the base field definition for the bundle key.
-      if (isset($base_field_definitions[$bundle_key])) {
-        $key_id = $base_field_definitions[$bundle_key]->getFieldStorageDefinition()->getMainPropertyName();
-      }
+      // Get the ID key from the base field definition for the bundle key or
+      // default to 'value'.
+      $key_id = isset($base_field_definitions[$bundle_key]) ? $base_field_definitions[$bundle_key]->getFieldStorageDefinition()->getMainPropertyName() : 'value';
 
       // Normalize the bundle if it is not explicitly set.
-      $data[$bundle_key] = isset($data[$bundle_key][0][$key_id])
-        ? $data[$bundle_key][0][$key_id]
-        : (isset($data[$bundle_key]) ? $data[$bundle_key] : NULL);
+      $data[$bundle_key] = isset($data[$bundle_key][0][$key_id]) ? $data[$bundle_key][0][$key_id] : (isset($data[$bundle_key]) ? $data[$bundle_key] : NULL);
 
       // Get the bundle entity type from the entity type definition.
       $bundle_type_id = $entity_type_definition->getBundleEntityType();
       $bundle_types = $bundle_type_id ? $this->entityManager->getStorage($bundle_type_id)->getQuery()->execute() : [];
 
+      // Make sure a bundle has been provided.
+      if (!is_string($data[$bundle_key])) {
+        throw new UnexpectedValueException('A string must be provided as a bundle value.');
+      }
+
       // Make sure the submitted bundle is a valid bundle for the entity type.
-      if (!is_string($data[$bundle_key]) || ($bundle_types && !in_array($data[$bundle_key], $bundle_types))) {
+      if ($bundle_types && !in_array($data[$bundle_key], $bundle_types)) {
         throw new UnexpectedValueException(sprintf('"%s" is not a valid bundle type for denormalization.', $data[$bundle_key]));
       }
     }