diff --git a/core/modules/serialization/lib/Drupal/serialization/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php b/core/modules/serialization/lib/Drupal/serialization/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f921b19
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/modules/serialization/lib/Drupal/serialization/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+<?php
+
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Contains \Drupal\serialization\Normalizer\EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.
+ */
+
+namespace Drupal\serialization\Normalizer;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Serializer\Exception\RuntimeException;
+
+/**
+ * Converts a Drupal entity reference item object to an array.
+ */
+class EntityReferenceItemNormalizer extends ComplexDataNormalizer {
+
+  /**
+   * The interface or class that this Normalizer supports.
+   *
+   * @var string
+   */
+  protected $supportedInterfaceOrClass = 'Drupal\Core\Entity\Plugin\DataType\EntityReferenceItem';
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function normalize($object, $format = NULL, array $context = array()) {
+    // Convert the object to an array as for any field item (complex data).
+    // For entity reference items, that includes the 'target_id' property.
+    $attributes = parent::normalize($object, $format, $context);
+
+    // Additionally, add the target entity's uuid.
+    if ($target_entity = $object->entity) {
+      $attributes['target_uuid'] = $target_entity->uuid();
+    }
+    return $attributes;
+  }
+
+}
diff --git a/core/modules/serialization/serialization.services.yml b/core/modules/serialization/serialization.services.yml
index 160d8b0..7675124 100644
--- a/core/modules/serialization/serialization.services.yml
+++ b/core/modules/serialization/serialization.services.yml
@@ -2,6 +2,10 @@ services:
   serializer:
     class: Symfony\Component\Serializer\Serializer
     arguments: [{  }, {  }]
+  serializer.normalizer.entity_reference_item:
+    class: Drupal\serialization\Normalizer\EntityReferenceItemNormalizer
+    tags:
+      - { name: normalizer }
   serializer.normalizer.complex_data:
     class: Drupal\serialization\Normalizer\ComplexDataNormalizer
     tags: