diff --git a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionBase.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionBase.php
index 5545720..f22c914 100644
--- a/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionBase.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/Plugin/EntityReferenceSelection/SelectionBase.php
@@ -221,7 +221,7 @@ public function buildConfigurationForm(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_sta
     );
 
     if ($entity_type->hasKey('bundle')) {
-      $bundles = array_intersect_key($bundle_options, $selection_handler_settings['target_bundles']);
+      $bundles = array_intersect_key($bundle_options, array_filter($selection_handler_settings['target_bundles']));
       $form['auto_create_bundle'] = array(
         '#type' => 'select',
         '#title' => $this->t('Store new items in'),
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ public function buildConfigurationForm(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_sta
         '#access' => count($bundles) > 1,
         '#states' => array(
           'visible' => array(
-            ':input[name="field[settings][handler_settings][auto_create]"]' => array('checked' => TRUE),
+            ':input[name="settings[handler_settings][auto_create]"]' => array('checked' => TRUE),
           ),
         ),
       );
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ public function buildConfigurationForm(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_sta
   public function validateConfigurationForm(array &$form, FormStateInterface $form_state) {
     // Don't store the 'target_bundles_update' button value into the field
     // config settings.
-    $form_state->unsetValue(['field', 'settings', 'handler_settings', 'target_bundles_update']);
+    $form_state->unsetValue(['settings', 'handler_settings', 'target_bundles_update']);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/core/modules/entity_reference/src/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php b/core/modules/entity_reference/src/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php
index c166bc5..7d1f862 100644
--- a/core/modules/entity_reference/src/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php
+++ b/core/modules/entity_reference/src/ConfigurableEntityReferenceItem.php
@@ -236,14 +236,18 @@ public static function getPreconfiguredOptions() {
    */
   public static function calculateDependencies(FieldDefinitionInterface $field_definition) {
     $dependencies = parent::calculateDependencies($field_definition);
+
     $handler_settings = $field_definition->getSetting('handler_settings');
     if (!empty($handler_settings['auto_create_bundle'])) {
       $target_type = \Drupal::entityManager()->getDefinition($field_definition->getFieldStorageDefinition()->getSetting('target_type'));
-      $bundle = entity_load($target_type->getBundleEntityType(), $handler_settings['auto_create_bundle']);
-      if ($bundle) {
-        $dependencies[$bundle->getConfigDependencyKey()][] = $bundle->getConfigDependencyName();
+      if ($bundle_entity_type = $target_type->getBundleEntityType()) {
+        $storage = \Drupal::entityManager()->getStorage($bundle_entity_type);
+        if ($bundle = $storage->load($handler_settings['auto_create_bundle'])) {
+          $dependencies[$bundle->getConfigDependencyKey()][] = $bundle->getConfigDependencyName();
+        }
       }
     }
+
     return $dependencies;
   }
 
@@ -252,16 +256,22 @@ public static function calculateDependencies(FieldDefinitionInterface $field_def
    */
   public static function onDependencyRemoval(FieldDefinitionInterface $field_definition, array $dependencies) {
     $changed = parent::onDependencyRemoval($field_definition, $dependencies);
+
     $handler_settings = $field_definition->getSetting('handler_settings');
     if (!empty($handler_settings['auto_create_bundle'])) {
       $target_type = \Drupal::entityManager()->getDefinition($field_definition->getFieldStorageDefinition()->getSetting('target_type'));
-      $bundle = entity_load($target_type->getBundleEntityType(), $handler_settings['auto_create_bundle']);
-      if ($bundle && isset($dependencies[$bundle->getConfigDependencyKey()][$bundle->getConfigDependencyName()])) {
-        unset($field_definition->settings['handler_settings']['auto_create_bundle']);
-        $field_definition->settings['handler_settings']['auto_create'] = FALSE;
-        $changed = TRUE;
+      if ($bundle_entity_type = $target_type->getBundleEntityType()) {
+        $storage = \Drupal::entityManager()->getStorage($bundle_entity_type);
+        $bundle = $storage->load($handler_settings['auto_create_bundle']);
+        if ($bundle && isset($dependencies[$bundle->getConfigDependencyKey()][$bundle->getConfigDependencyName()])) {
+          unset($handler_settings['auto_create_bundle']);
+          $handler_settings['auto_create'] = FALSE;
+          $field_definition->setSetting('handler_settings', $handler_settings);
+          $changed = TRUE;
+        }
       }
     }
+
     return $changed;
   }
 
diff --git a/core/modules/entity_reference/src/Tests/EntityReferenceAdminTest.php b/core/modules/entity_reference/src/Tests/EntityReferenceAdminTest.php
index acb8f73..ec7382a 100644
--- a/core/modules/entity_reference/src/Tests/EntityReferenceAdminTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/entity_reference/src/Tests/EntityReferenceAdminTest.php
@@ -388,20 +388,20 @@ public function testMultipleTargetBundles() {
     $this->drupalGet($path);
 
     // Expect that there's no 'auto_create_bundle' selected.
-    $this->assertNoFieldByName('field[settings][handler_settings][auto_create_bundle]');
+    $this->assertNoFieldByName('settings[handler_settings][auto_create_bundle]');
 
     $edit = [
-      'field[settings][handler_settings][target_bundles][' . $vocabularies[1]->id() . ']' => TRUE,
+      'settings[handler_settings][target_bundles][' . $vocabularies[1]->id() . ']' => TRUE,
     ];
     // Enable the second vocabulary as a target bundle.
     $this->drupalPostAjaxForm($path, $edit, key($edit));
     // Expect a select element with the two vocabularies as options.
-    $this->assertFieldByXPath("//select[@name='field[settings][handler_settings][auto_create_bundle]']/option[@value='" . $vocabularies[0]->id() . "']");
-    $this->assertFieldByXPath("//select[@name='field[settings][handler_settings][auto_create_bundle]']/option[@value='" . $vocabularies[1]->id() . "']");
+    $this->assertFieldByXPath("//select[@name='settings[handler_settings][auto_create_bundle]']/option[@value='" . $vocabularies[0]->id() . "']");
+    $this->assertFieldByXPath("//select[@name='settings[handler_settings][auto_create_bundle]']/option[@value='" . $vocabularies[1]->id() . "']");
 
     $edit = [
-      'field[settings][handler_settings][auto_create]' => TRUE,
-      'field[settings][handler_settings][auto_create_bundle]' => $vocabularies[1]->id(),
+      'settings[handler_settings][auto_create]' => TRUE,
+      'settings[handler_settings][auto_create_bundle]' => $vocabularies[1]->id(),
     ];
     $this->drupalPostForm(NULL, $edit, t('Save settings'));
 
diff --git a/core/modules/entity_reference/src/Tests/EntityReferenceAutoCreateTest.php b/core/modules/entity_reference/src/Tests/EntityReferenceAutoCreateTest.php
index 69f6491..4f3636e 100644
--- a/core/modules/entity_reference/src/Tests/EntityReferenceAutoCreateTest.php
+++ b/core/modules/entity_reference/src/Tests/EntityReferenceAutoCreateTest.php
@@ -189,10 +189,13 @@ public function testMultipleTargetBundles() {
     $this->assertEqual($vocabularies[1]->id(), $term->bundle());
 
     /** @var \Drupal\field\Entity\FieldConfig $field_config */
-    $field_config = FieldConfig::load('node.' . $this->referencingType . ".$field_name");
+    $field_config = FieldConfig::loadByName('node', $this->referencingType, $field_name);
+    $handler_settings = $field_config->getSetting('handler_settings');
+
     // Change the field setting to store the auto-created terms in the first
     // vocabulary and test again.
-    $field_config->settings['handler_settings']['auto_create_bundle'] = $vocabularies[0]->id();
+    $handler_settings['auto_create_bundle'] = $vocabularies[0]->id();
+    $field_config->setSetting('handler_settings', $handler_settings);
     $field_config->save();
 
     $term_name = $this->randomString();
@@ -210,7 +213,8 @@ public function testMultipleTargetBundles() {
     $this->assertEqual($vocabularies[0]->id(), $term->bundle());
 
     // Test the case when the field config settings are inconsistent.
-    unset($field_config->settings['handler_settings']['auto_create_bundle']);
+    unset($handler_settings['auto_create_bundle']);
+    $field_config->setSetting('handler_settings', $handler_settings);
     $field_config->save();
 
     // If we use $this->drupalGet() we cannot catch the exception because the