diff --git a/src/Plugin/Block/EntityBlock.php b/src/Plugin/Block/EntityBlock.php
index 1db4c29..577c73a 100644
--- a/src/Plugin/Block/EntityBlock.php
+++ b/src/Plugin/Block/EntityBlock.php
@@ -2,11 +2,15 @@
 
 namespace Drupal\entity_block\Plugin\Block;
 
+use Drupal\Component\Uuid\Uuid;
+use Drupal\Core\Access\AccessResult;
 use Drupal\Core\Block\BlockBase;
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityDisplayRepositoryInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityRepositoryInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityTypeManagerInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Form\FormStateInterface;
 use Drupal\Core\Plugin\ContainerFactoryPluginInterface;
+use Drupal\Core\Session\AccountInterface;
 use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
 
 /**
@@ -20,6 +24,20 @@ use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\ContainerInterface;
  */
 class EntityBlock extends BlockBase implements ContainerFactoryPluginInterface {
 
+  /**
+    * The entity repository.
+    *
+    * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityRepositoryInterface
+    */
+  protected $entityRepository;
+
+  /**
+   * The entity display repository.
+   *
+   * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityDisplayRepositoryInterface
+   */
+  protected $entityDisplayRepository;
+
   /**
    * The name of our entity type.
    *
@@ -41,36 +59,24 @@ class EntityBlock extends BlockBase implements ContainerFactoryPluginInterface {
    */
   protected $entityStorage;
 
-  /**
-   * The view builder for our entity type.
-   *
-   * @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityViewBuilderInterface
-   */
-  protected $entityViewBuilder;
-
   /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
-  public function __construct(array $configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition, EntityTypeManagerInterface $entityTypeManager, EntityDisplayRepositoryInterface $entityDisplayRepository) {
+  public function __construct(array $configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition, EntityRepositoryInterface $entityRepository, EntityTypeManagerInterface $entityTypeManager, EntityDisplayRepositoryInterface $entityDisplayRepository) {
     parent::__construct($configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition);
 
+    // Allows entities to be loaded by UUID.
+    $this->entityRepository = $entityRepository;
+
+    // Allows view modes to be retrieved.
+    $this->entityDisplayRepository = $entityDisplayRepository;
+
     // Determine what entity type we are referring to.
     $this->entityTypeName = $this->getDerivativeId();
 
     // Load various utilities related to our entity type.
     $this->entityTypeManager = $entityTypeManager;
     $this->entityStorage = $entityTypeManager->getStorage($this->entityTypeName);
-
-    // Panelizer replaces the view_builder handler, but we want to use the
-    // original which has been moved to fallback_view_builder.
-    if ($entityTypeManager->hasHandler($this->entityTypeName, 'fallback_view_builder')) {
-      $this->entityViewBuilder = $entityTypeManager->getHandler($this->entityTypeName, 'fallback_view_builder');
-    }
-    else {
-      $this->entityViewBuilder = $entityTypeManager->getHandler($this->entityTypeName, 'view_builder');
-    }
-
-    $this->view_mode_options = $entityDisplayRepository->getViewModeOptions($this->entityTypeName);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -78,39 +84,53 @@ class EntityBlock extends BlockBase implements ContainerFactoryPluginInterface {
    */
   public static function create(ContainerInterface $container, array $configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition) {
     return new static(
-      $configuration, $plugin_id, $plugin_definition,
+      $configuration,
+      $plugin_id,
+      $plugin_definition,
+      $container->get('entity.repository'),
       $container->get('entity.manager'),
       $container->get('entity_display.repository')
     );
   }
 
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public function defaultConfiguration() {
+    return [
+      'entity' => 0,
+      'entity_uuid' => '',
+      'view_mode' => 'full',
+    ];
+  }
+
   /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function blockForm($form, FormStateInterface $form_state) {
     $form = parent::blockForm($form, $form_state);
     $config = $this->configuration;
+    $options = $this->entityDisplayRepository->getViewModeOptions($this->entityTypeName);
 
     $form['entity'] = [
       '#type' => 'entity_autocomplete',
       '#title' => $this->t('Entity'),
       '#target_type' => $this->entityTypeName,
+      '#default_value' => $this->getEntity(),
       '#required' => TRUE,
     ];
 
-    if (isset($config['entity'])) {
-      if ($entity = $this->entityStorage->load($config['entity'])) {
-        $form['entity']['#default_value'] = $entity;
-      }
-    }
-
-    $view_mode = isset($config['view_mode']) ? $config['view_mode'] : NULL;
+    $form['entity_uuid'] = array(
+      '#type' => 'value',
+      '#value' => $config['entity_uuid'],
+    );
 
     $form['view_mode'] = [
       '#type' => 'select',
       '#title' => $this->t('View mode'),
-      '#options' => $this->view_mode_options,
-      '#default_value' => $view_mode,
+      '#options' => $options,
+      '#default_value' => isset($options[$config['view_mode']]) ? $config['view_mode'] : reset($options),
+      '#access' => (count($options) > 1),
     ];
 
     return $form;
@@ -141,22 +161,54 @@ class EntityBlock extends BlockBase implements ContainerFactoryPluginInterface {
 
     $this->configuration['entity'] = $form_state->getValue('entity');
     $this->configuration['view_mode'] = $form_state->getValue('view_mode');
+
+    if ($entity = $this->entityStorage->load($form_state->getValue('entity'))) {
+      if ($uuid = $entity->uuid()) {
+        $this->configuration['entity_uuid'] = $uuid;
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  protected function blockAccess(AccountInterface $account) {
+    if ($this->getEntity()) {
+      return $this->getEntity()->access('view', $account, TRUE);
+    }
+    return AccessResult::forbidden();
   }
 
   /**
    * {@inheritdoc}
    */
   public function build() {
-    if ($entity_id = $this->configuration['entity']) {
-      if (($entity = $this->entityStorage->load($entity_id)) && $entity->access('view')) {
-        $render_controller = \Drupal::entityTypeManager()->getViewBuilder($entity->getEntityTypeId());
-        $view_mode = isset($this->configuration['view_mode']) ? $this->configuration['view_mode'] : 'default';
+    if ($entity = $this->getEntity()) {
+      return $this->entityTypeManager->getViewBuilder($entity->getEntityTypeId())->view($entity, $this->configuration['view_mode']);
+    }
+    else {
+      return [
+        '#markup' => $this->t('Unable to load %type entity %id.', array('%type' => $this->entityTypeName, '%id' => $this->configuration['entity'])),
+      ];
+    }
+  }
 
-        return $render_controller->view($entity, $view_mode);
-      }
+  /**
+   * Loads the entity from configuration by UUID or ID.
+   *
+   * @return \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityInterface|null
+   *   The entity object, or NULL if there is no entity with the given ID/UUID.
+   */
+  protected function getEntity() {
+    $config = $this->configuration;
+
+    if (Uuid::isValid($config['entity_uuid'])) {
+      $entity = $this->entityRepository->loadEntityByUuid($this->entityTypeName, $config['entity_uuid']);
+    }
+    else {
+      $entity = $this->entityStorage->load($config['entity']);
     }
 
-    return [];
+    return $entity;
   }
-
 }