diff --git a/entityreference.module b/entityreference.module
index 5f03c5b..c4ef879 100644
--- a/entityreference.module
+++ b/entityreference.module
@@ -693,6 +693,7 @@ function entityreference_field_widget_info() {
       // the two widgets, and the Field API doesn't update default
       // settings when the widget changes.
       'path' => '',
+      'show_identifier' => TRUE,
     ),
   );
 
@@ -707,6 +708,7 @@ function entityreference_field_widget_info() {
       // the two widgets, and the Field API doesn't update default
       // settings when the widget changes.
       'path' => '',
+      'show_identifier' => TRUE,
     ),
     'behaviors' => array(
       'multiple values' => FIELD_BEHAVIOR_CUSTOM,
@@ -753,6 +755,13 @@ function entityreference_field_widget_settings_form($field, $instance) {
       '#element_validate' => array('_element_validate_integer_positive'),
       '#required' => TRUE,
     );
+
+    $form['show_identifier'] = array(
+      '#type' => 'checkbox',
+      '#title' => t('Show entity ID'),
+      '#description' => t('Show the entity ID next to the label e.g. "node-label (1)". Note that in case you use an autocomplete widget and have entities with a duplicate label, and this option is disabled, the first entity will be used.'),
+      '#default_value' => $settings['show_identifier'],
+    );
   }
 
   return $form;
@@ -819,9 +828,10 @@ function entityreference_field_widget_form(&$form, &$form_state, $field, $instan
     // Load those entities and loop through them to extract their labels.
     $entities = entity_load($field['settings']['target_type'], $entity_ids);
 
+    $show_identifier = $instance['widget']['settings']['show_identifier'];
     foreach ($entities as $entity_id => $entity_item) {
       $label = $handler->getLabel($entity_item);
-      $key = "$label ($entity_id)";
+      $key = $show_identifier ? "$label ($entity_id)" : $label;
       // Labels containing commas or quotes must be wrapped in quotes.
       if (strpos($key, ',') !== FALSE || strpos($key, '"') !== FALSE) {
         $key = '"' . str_replace('"', '""', $key) . '"';
@@ -885,8 +895,6 @@ function _entityreference_autocomplete_validate($element, &$form_state, $form) {
     else {
       // Try to get a match from the input string when the user didn't use the
       // autocomplete but filled in a value manually.
-      $field = field_info_field($element['#field_name']);
-      $handler = entityreference_get_selection_handler($field);
       $field_name = $element['#field_name'];
       $field = field_info_field($field_name);
       $instance = field_info_instance($element['#entity_type'], $field_name, $element['#bundle']);
@@ -1033,16 +1041,15 @@ function entityreference_autocomplete_callback_get_matches($type, $field, $insta
     $entity_labels = $handler->getReferencableEntities($tag_last, $instance['widget']['settings']['match_operator'], 10);
 
     // Loop through the products and convert them into autocomplete output.
-    foreach ($entity_labels as $values) {
-      foreach ($values as $entity_id => $label) {
-        $key = "$label ($entity_id)";
-        // Strip things like starting/trailing white spaces, line breaks and tags.
-        $key = preg_replace('/\s\s+/', ' ', str_replace("\n", '', trim(decode_entities(strip_tags($key)))));
-        // Names containing commas or quotes must be wrapped in quotes.
-        if (strpos($key, ',') !== FALSE || strpos($key, '"') !== FALSE) {
-          $key = '"' . str_replace('"', '""', $key) . '"';
-        }
-        $matches[$prefix . $key] = '<div class="reference-autocomplete">' . $label . '</div>';
+
+    $show_identifier = $instance['widget']['settings']['show_identifier'];
+    foreach ($entity_labels as $entity_id => $label) {
+      $key = $show_identifier ? "$label ($entity_id)" : $label;
+      // Strip things like starting/trailing white spaces, line breaks and tags.
+      $key = preg_replace('/\s\s+/', ' ', str_replace("\n", '', trim(decode_entities(strip_tags($key)))));
+      // Names containing commas or quotes must be wrapped in quotes.
+      if (strpos($key, ',') !== FALSE || strpos($key, '"') !== FALSE) {
+        $key = '"' . str_replace('"', '""', $key) . '"';
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/plugins/selection/EntityReference_SelectionHandler_Generic.class.php b/plugins/selection/EntityReference_SelectionHandler_Generic.class.php
index 35f06f5..d0ef689 100644
--- a/plugins/selection/EntityReference_SelectionHandler_Generic.class.php
+++ b/plugins/selection/EntityReference_SelectionHandler_Generic.class.php
@@ -213,24 +213,27 @@ class EntityReference_SelectionHandler_Generic implements EntityReference_Select
         // Error if there are no entities available for a required field.
         form_error($element, t('There are no entities matching "%value"', array('%value' => $input)));
       }
-      elseif (count($entities) > 5) {
-        // Error if there are more than 5 matching entities.
-        form_error($element, t('Many entities are called %value. Specify the one you want by appending the id in parentheses, like "@value (@id)"', array(
-          '%value' => $input,
-          '@value' => $input,
-          '@id' => key($entities),
-        )));
-      }
-      elseif (count($entities) > 1) {
-        // More helpful error if there are only a few matching entities.
-        $multiples = array();
-        foreach ($entities as $id => $name) {
-          $multiples[] = $name . ' (' . $id . ')';
+      if ($this->instance['widget']['settings']['show_identifier']) {
+        if (count($entities) > 5) {
+          // Error if there are more than 5 matching entities.
+          form_error($element, t('Many entities are called %value. Specify the one you want by appending the id in parentheses, like "@value (@id)"', array(
+            '%value' => $input,
+            '@value' => $input,
+            '@id' => key($entities),
+          )));
+        }
+        elseif (count($entities) > 1) {
+          // More helpful error if there are only a few matching entities.
+          $multiples = array();
+          foreach ($entities as $id => $name) {
+            $multiples[] = $name . ' (' . $id . ')';
+          }
+          form_error($element, t('Multiple entities match this reference; "%multiple"', array('%multiple' => implode('", "', $multiples))));
         }
-        form_error($element, t('Multiple entities match this reference; "%multiple"', array('%multiple' => implode('", "', $multiples))));
       }
       else {
-        // Take the one and only matching entity.
+        // Take the one and only matching entity, or the first one in case
+        // "Show-identifier" is disabled.
         return key($entities);
       }
   }