diff -u b/pathauto.install b/pathauto.install
--- b/pathauto.install
+++ b/pathauto.install
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
  * Implements hook_schema().
  */
 function pathauto_schema() {
-  $schema['pathauto_state'] = array(
-    'description' => '',
+  $schema['pathauto_regenerate'] = array(
+    'description' => 'The status of each entity alias (whether it was automatically generated or not).',
     'fields' => array(
       'entity_type' => array(
         'type' => 'varchar',
@@ -223,9 +223,9 @@
  * Create pathauto table, copying data from pathauto_persist if it exists
  */
 function pathauto_update_7006() {
-  if (!db_table_exists('pathauto_state')) {
+  if (!db_table_exists('pathauto_regenerate')) {
 
-    $schema['pathauto_state'] = array(
+    $schema['pathauto_regenerate'] = array(
       'description' => 'The status of each entity alias (whether it was automatically generated or not).',
       'fields' => array(
         'entity_type' => array(
@@ -254,15 +254,22 @@
     if (db_table_exists('pathauto_persist')) {
       // Rename pathauto_persist's table, then create a new empty one just so
       // that we can cleanly disable that module.
-      db_rename_table('pathauto_persist', 'pathauto_state');
-      db_create_table('pathauto_persist', $schema['pathauto_state']);
+      db_rename_table('pathauto_persist', 'pathauto_regenerate');
+      db_create_table('pathauto_persist', $schema['pathauto_regenerate']);
+      // Change the entity_id column to varchar because the entity system does
+      // not assume serial or integer IDs (see [#1823494]).
+      db_drop_primary_key('pathauto_regenerate');
+      db_change_field('pathauto_regenerate', 'entity_id', 'entity_id',
+            array('type' => 'varchar', 'length' => 255, 'not null' => TRUE, 'description' => 'An entity ID.'));
+      db_add_primary_key('pathauto_regenerate', array('entity_type', 'entity_id'));
+      // Disable the module and inform the user.
       if (module_exists('pathauto_persist')) {
         module_disable(array('pathauto_persist'));
       }
       return t('This version of Pathauto includes the functionality of Pathauto Persist, which has been disabled and can be safely removed. All settings have been copied.');
     }
     else {
-      db_create_table('pathauto_state', $schema['pathauto_state']);
+      db_create_table('pathauto_regenerate', $schema['pathauto_regenerate']);
     }
   }
 }
diff -u b/pathauto.module b/pathauto.module
--- b/pathauto.module
+++ b/pathauto.module
@@ -427,8 +427,8 @@
  *   An entity ID.
  */
 function pathauto_entity_state_load($entity_type, $entity_id) {
-  $pathauto_state = pathauto_entity_state_load_multiple($entity_type, array($entity_id));
-  return !empty($pathauto_state) ? reset($pathauto_state) : FALSE;
+  $pathauto_regenerate = pathauto_entity_state_load_multiple($entity_type, array($entity_id));
+  return !empty($pathauto_regenerate) ? reset($pathauto_regenerate) : FALSE;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -440,8 +440,8 @@
  *   An array of entity IDs.
  */
 function pathauto_entity_state_load_multiple($entity_type, $entity_ids) {
-  $pathauto_state = db_query("SELECT entity_id, pathauto FROM {pathauto_state} WHERE entity_type = :entity_type AND entity_id IN (:entity_ids)", array(':entity_type' => $entity_type, ':entity_ids' => $entity_ids))->fetchAllKeyed();
-  return $pathauto_state;
+  $pathauto_regenerate = db_query("SELECT entity_id, pathauto FROM {pathauto_regenerate} WHERE entity_type = :entity_type AND entity_id IN (:entity_ids)", array(':entity_type' => $entity_type, ':entity_ids' => $entity_ids))->fetchAllKeyed();
+  return $pathauto_regenerate;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -451,19 +451,19 @@
  *   An entity type.
  * @param $entity
  *   The entity object.
- * @param $pathauto_state
+ * @param $pathauto_regenerate
  *   A boolean flag if TRUE means that Pathauto should keep controlling this
  *   entity's path in the future. A FALSE value means Pathauto should stay out.
  */
-function pathauto_entity_state_save($entity_type, $entity, $pathauto_state) {
+function pathauto_entity_state_save($entity_type, $entity, $pathauto_regenerate) {
   list($entity_id) = entity_extract_ids($entity_type, $entity);
-  db_merge('pathauto_state')
+  db_merge('pathauto_regenerate')
     ->key(array(
       'entity_type' => $entity_type,
       'entity_id' => $entity_id,
     ))
     ->fields(array(
-      'pathauto' => $pathauto_state ? 1 : 0,
+      'pathauto' => $pathauto_regenerate ? 1 : 0,
     ))
     ->execute();
 }
@@ -478,7 +478,7 @@
  */
 function pathauto_entity_state_delete($entity_type, $entity) {
   list($entity_id) = entity_extract_ids($entity_type, $entity);
-  db_delete('pathauto_state')
+  db_delete('pathauto_regenerate')
     ->condition('entity_type', $entity_type)
     ->condition('entity_id', $entity_id)
     ->execute();