diff -u b/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php b/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php
--- b/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php
+++ b/core/modules/hal/src/Normalizer/EntityReferenceItemNormalizer.php
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@
     $context['included_fields'] = ['uuid'];
 
     // Normalize the target entity unless it recurses onto itself
-    if (!empty($field_item->getEntity()) && $field_item->getEntity()->getEntityType() == $target_entity->getEntityType() &&
+    if (!empty($field_item->getEntity()->id()) && $field_item->getEntity()->getEntityType() == $target_entity->getEntityType() &&
       $field_item->getEntity()->id() == $target_entity->id()) {
       return parent::normalize($field_item, $format, $context);
     }