diff -u b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateManager.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateManager.php
--- b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateManager.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateManager.php
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@
               break;
 
             case static::DEFINITION_DELETED:
-              $this->entityManager->onFieldStorageDefinitionDelete($storage_definitions[$field_name]);
+              $this->entityManager->onFieldStorageDefinitionDelete($original_storage_definitions[$field_name]);
               break;
           }
         }
@@ -207,7 +207,7 @@
    * @return bool
    *   TRUE if storage schema changes are required, FALSE otherwise.
    */
-  protected function requiresEntityStorageSchemaChanges($entity_type, $original) {
+  protected function requiresEntityStorageSchemaChanges(EntityTypeInterface $entity_type, EntityTypeInterface $original) {
     $storage = $this->entityManager->getStorage($entity_type->id());
     return ($storage instanceof EntityStorageSchemaInterface) && $storage->requiresEntityStorageSchemaChanges($entity_type, $original);
   }
diff -u b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateManagerInterface.php b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateManagerInterface.php
--- b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateManagerInterface.php
+++ b/core/lib/Drupal/Core/Entity/EntityDefinitionUpdateManagerInterface.php
@@ -16,12 +16,14 @@
  * perform complex or long-running logic in response to the change. For
  * example, a SQL-based storage handler may need to update the database schema.
  *
- * The entity manager tracks both the current code-defined definitions and the
- * most recent definitions that entity handlers have had a chance to react to,
- * and implements \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityTypeListenerInterface and
- * \Drupal\Core\Field\FieldStorageDefinitionListenerInterface for bringing the
- * latter up to date with the former, but makes no decisions about when to
- * invoke those events. This interface is for managing that.
+ * To support this, \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface has methods to
+ * retrieve the last installed definitions as well as the definitions specified
+ * by the current codebase. It also has create/update/delete methods to bring
+ * the former up to date with the latter.
+ *
+ * However, it is not the responsibility of the entity manager to decide how to
+ * report the differences or when to apply each update. This interface is for
+ * managing that.
  *
  * @see \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface::getDefinition()
  * @see \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityManagerInterface::getLastInstalledDefinition()
diff -u b/core/modules/system/src/Controller/DbUpdateController.php b/core/modules/system/src/Controller/DbUpdateController.php
--- b/core/modules/system/src/Controller/DbUpdateController.php
+++ b/core/modules/system/src/Controller/DbUpdateController.php
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 
 use Drupal\Core\Cache\CacheBackendInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Controller\ControllerBase;
+use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityDefinitionUpdateManagerInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Extension\ModuleHandlerInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueExpirableFactoryInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Page\DefaultHtmlPageRenderer;
@@ -61,6 +62,13 @@
   protected $account;
 
   /**
+   * The entity definition update manager.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityDefinitionUpdateManagerInterface
+   */
+  protected $entityDefinitionUpdateManager;
+
+  /**
    * Constructs a new UpdateController.
    *
    * @param \Drupal\Core\KeyValueStore\KeyValueExpirableFactoryInterface $key_value_expirable_factory
@@ -73,13 +81,16 @@
    *   The module handler.
    * @param \Drupal\Core\Session\AccountInterface $account
    *   The current user.
+   * @param \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityDefinitionUpdateManagerInterface $entity_definition_update_manager
+   *   The entity definition update manager.
    */
-  public function __construct(KeyValueExpirableFactoryInterface $key_value_expirable_factory, CacheBackendInterface $cache, StateInterface $state, ModuleHandlerInterface $module_handler, AccountInterface $account) {
+  public function __construct(KeyValueExpirableFactoryInterface $key_value_expirable_factory, CacheBackendInterface $cache, StateInterface $state, ModuleHandlerInterface $module_handler, AccountInterface $account, EntityDefinitionUpdateManagerInterface $entity_definition_update_manager) {
     $this->keyValueExpirableFactory = $key_value_expirable_factory;
     $this->cache = $cache;
     $this->state = $state;
     $this->moduleHandler = $module_handler;
     $this->account = $account;
+    $this->entityDefinitionUpdateManager = $entity_definition_update_manager;
   }
 
   /**
@@ -91,7 +102,8 @@
       $container->get('cache.default'),
       $container->get('state'),
       $container->get('module_handler'),
-      $container->get('current_user')
+      $container->get('current_user'),
+      $container->get('entity.definition_update_manager')
     );
   }
 
@@ -286,9 +298,9 @@
     }
 
     // If there are entity definition updates, display their summary.
-    if (\Drupal::service('entity.definition_update_manager')->needsUpdates()) {
+    if ($this->entityDefinitionUpdateManager->needsUpdates()) {
       $entity_build = array();
-      $summary = \Drupal::service('entity.definition_update_manager')->getChangeSummary();
+      $summary = $this->entityDefinitionUpdateManager->getChangeSummary();
       foreach ($summary as $entity_type_id => $items) {
         $entity_update_key = 'entity_type_updates_' . $entity_type_id;
         $entity_build[$entity_update_key] = array(
@@ -523,7 +535,7 @@
     // First of all perform entity definition updates, which will update
     // storage schema if needed, so that module update functions work with
     // the correct entity schema.
-    if (\Drupal::service('entity.definition_update_manager')->needsUpdates()) {
+    if ($this->entityDefinitionUpdateManager->needsUpdates()) {
       $operations[] = array('update_entity_definitions', array('system', '0 - Update entity definitions'));
     }