diff --git a/core/modules/user/lib/Drupal/user/Plugin/entity_reference/selection/UserSelection.php b/core/modules/user/lib/Drupal/user/Plugin/entity_reference/selection/UserSelection.php
index 71f0c3f3c98e9a0130a03603394885d92458d413..2c3fd93ddaa1220cafec91aa595b58fb9379d91f 100644
--- a/core/modules/user/lib/Drupal/user/Plugin/entity_reference/selection/UserSelection.php
+++ b/core/modules/user/lib/Drupal/user/Plugin/entity_reference/selection/UserSelection.php
@@ -133,8 +133,8 @@ public function entityQueryAlter(SelectInterface $query) {
     }
 
     // Add the filter by role option.
-    if (!empty($this->instance['settings']['handler_settings']['filter'])) {
-      $filter_settings = $this->instance['settings']['handler_settings']['filter'];
+    if (!empty($this->fieldDefinition->getSetting('handler_settings')['filter'])) {
+      $filter_settings = $this->fieldDefinition->getSetting('handler_settings')['filter'];
       if ($filter_settings['type'] == 'role') {
         $tables = $query->getTables();
         $base_table = $tables['base_table']['alias'];
diff --git a/core/modules/user/lib/Drupal/user/Tests/UserEntityReferenceTest.php b/core/modules/user/lib/Drupal/user/Tests/UserEntityReferenceTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..c5e8ae92beb4839f4976d9e2e7e88052b476564e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/modules/user/lib/Drupal/user/Tests/UserEntityReferenceTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,106 @@
+<?php
+/**
+ * @file
+ * Contains \Drupal\user\Tests\UserEntityReferenceTest.
+ */
+
+namespace Drupal\user\Tests;
+
+use Drupal\field\Field;
+use Drupal\system\Tests\Entity\EntityUnitTestBase;
+
+/**
+ * User entity reference test cases.
+ */
+class UserEntityReferenceTest extends EntityUnitTestBase {
+
+  /**
+   * @var \Drupal\user\Entity\Role
+   */
+  protected $role1;
+
+  /**
+   * @var \Drupal\user\Entity\Role
+   */
+  protected $role2;
+
+  /**
+   * Modules to enable.
+   *
+   * @var array
+   */
+  public static $modules = array('entity_reference', 'user');
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  public static function getInfo() {
+    return array(
+      'name' => 'User entity reference',
+      'description' => 'Tests the user reference field functionality.',
+      'group' => 'User',
+    );
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * {@inheritdoc}
+   */
+  function setUp() {
+    parent::setUp();
+
+    $this->role1 = entity_create('user_role', array(
+      'id' => strtolower($this->randomName(8)),
+      'label' => $this->randomName(8),
+    ));
+    $this->role1->save();
+
+    $this->role2 = entity_create('user_role', array(
+      'id' => strtolower($this->randomName(8)),
+      'label' => $this->randomName(8),
+    ));
+    $this->role2->save();
+
+    entity_reference_create_instance('user', 'user', 'user_reference', 'User reference', 'user');
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Tests user selection by roles.
+   */
+  function testUserSelectionByRole() {
+    $fields = Field::fieldInfo()->getBundleInstances('user', 'user');
+    $fields['user_reference']->settings['handler_settings']['filter']['role'] = array(
+      $this->role1->id() => $this->role1->id(),
+      $this->role2->id() => 0,
+    );
+    $fields['user_reference']->settings['handler_settings']['filter']['type'] = 'role';
+    $fields['user_reference']->save();
+
+    $user1 = $this->createUser(array('name' => 'aabb'));
+    $user1->addRole($this->role1->id());
+    $user1->save();
+
+    $user2 = $this->createUser(array('name' => 'aabbb'));
+    $user2->addRole($this->role1->id());
+    $user2->save();
+
+    $user3 = $this->createUser(array('name' => 'aabbbb'));
+    $user3->addRole($this->role2->id());
+    $user3->save();
+
+    /** @var \Drupal\entity_reference\EntityReferenceAutocomplete $autocomplete */
+    $autocomplete = \Drupal::service('entity_reference.autocomplete');
+
+    $matches = $autocomplete->getMatches($fields['user_reference'], 'user', 'user', 'NULL', '', 'aabb');
+    $this->assertEqual(count($matches), 2);
+    $users = array();
+    foreach ($matches as $match) {
+      $users[] = $match['label'];
+    }
+    $this->assertTrue(in_array($user1->label(), $users));
+    $this->assertTrue(in_array($user2->label(), $users));
+    $this->assertFalse(in_array($user3->label(), $users));
+
+    $matches = $autocomplete->getMatches($fields['user_reference'], 'user', 'user', 'NULL', '', 'aabbbb');
+    $this->assertEqual(count($matches), 0, '');
+  }
+}