diff --git a/src/diagrams/er/erRenderer.js b/src/diagrams/er/erRenderer.js
index f04fc5fe22..a6277f27da 100644
--- a/src/diagrams/er/erRenderer.js
+++ b/src/diagrams/er/erRenderer.js
@@ -7,9 +7,17 @@ import erMarkers from './erMarkers';
 import { configureSvgSize } from '../../setupGraphViewbox';
 import addSVGAccessibilityFields from '../../accessibility';
 import { parseGenericTypes } from '../common/common';
+import { v4 as uuid4 } from 'uuid';
 
+/** Regex used to remove chars from the entity name so the result can be used in an id */
+const BAD_ID_CHARS_REGEXP = /[^A-Za-z0-9]([\W])*/g;
+
+// Configuration
 let conf = {};
 
+// Map so we can look up the id of an entity based on the name
+let entityNameIds = new Map();
+
 /**
  * Allows the top-level API module to inject config specific to this renderer, storing it in the
  * local conf object. Note that generic config still needs to be retrieved using getConfig()
@@ -313,15 +321,18 @@ const drawEntities = function (svgNode, entities, graph) {
   const keys = Object.keys(entities);
   let firstOne;
 
-  keys.forEach(function (id) {
+  keys.forEach(function (entityName) {
+    const entityId = generateId(entityName, 'entity');
+    entityNameIds.set(entityName, entityId);
+
     // Create a group for each entity
-    const groupNode = svgNode.append('g').attr('id', id);
+    const groupNode = svgNode.append('g').attr('id', entityId);
 
-    firstOne = firstOne === undefined ? id : firstOne;
+    firstOne = firstOne === undefined ? entityId : firstOne;
 
     // Label the entity - this is done first so that we can get the bounding box
     // which then determines the size of the rectangle
-    const textId = 'entity-' + id;
+    const textId = 'text-' + entityId;
     const textNode = groupNode
       .append('text')
       .attr('class', 'er entityLabel')
@@ -334,12 +345,12 @@ const drawEntities = function (svgNode, entities, graph) {
         'style',
         'font-family: ' + getConfig().fontFamily + '; font-size: ' + conf.fontSize + 'px'
       )
-      .text(id);
+      .text(entityName);
 
     const { width: entityWidth, height: entityHeight } = drawAttributes(
       groupNode,
       textNode,
-      entities[id].attributes
+      entities[entityName].attributes
     );
 
     // Draw the rectangle - insert it before the text so that the text is not obscured
@@ -356,12 +367,12 @@ const drawEntities = function (svgNode, entities, graph) {
 
     const rectBBox = rectNode.node().getBBox();
 
-    // Add the entity to the graph
-    graph.setNode(id, {
+    // Add the entity to the graph using the entityId
+    graph.setNode(entityId, {
       width: rectBBox.width,
       height: rectBBox.height,
       shape: 'rect',
-      id: id,
+      id: entityId,
     });
   });
   return firstOne;
@@ -405,7 +416,12 @@ const getEdgeName = function (rel) {
  */
 const addRelationships = function (relationships, g) {
   relationships.forEach(function (r) {
-    g.setEdge(r.entityA, r.entityB, { relationship: r }, getEdgeName(r));
+    g.setEdge(
+      entityNameIds.get(r.entityA),
+      entityNameIds.get(r.entityB),
+      { relationship: r },
+      getEdgeName(r)
+    );
   });
   return relationships;
 }; // addRelationships
@@ -425,7 +441,11 @@ const drawRelationshipFromLayout = function (svg, rel, g, insert, diagObj) {
   relCnt++;
 
   // Find the edge relating to this relationship
-  const edge = g.edge(rel.entityA, rel.entityB, getEdgeName(rel));
+  const edge = g.edge(
+    entityNameIds.get(rel.entityA),
+    entityNameIds.get(rel.entityB),
+    getEdgeName(rel)
+  );
 
   // Get a function that will generate the line path
   const lineFunction = line()
@@ -652,6 +672,35 @@ export const draw = function (text, id, _version, diagObj) {
   addSVGAccessibilityFields(diagObj.db, svg, id);
 }; // draw
 
+/**
+ * Return a unique id based on the given string. Start with the prefix, then a hyphen, then the
+ * simplified str, then a hyphen, then a unique uuid. (Hyphens are only included if needed.)
+ * Although the official XML standard for ids says that many more characters are valid in the id,
+ * this keeps things simple by accepting only A-Za-z0-9.
+ *
+ * @param {string} [str?=''] Given string to use as the basis for the id. Default is `''`
+ * @param {string} [prefix?=''] String to put at the start, followed by '-'. Default is `''`
+ * @param str
+ * @param prefix
+ * @returns {string}
+ * @see https://www.w3.org/TR/xml/#NT-Name
+ */
+export function generateId(str = '', prefix = '') {
+  const simplifiedStr = str.replace(BAD_ID_CHARS_REGEXP, '');
+  return `${strWithHyphen(prefix)}${strWithHyphen(simplifiedStr)}${uuid4()}`;
+}
+
+/**
+ * Append a hyphen to a string only if the string isn't empty
+ *
+ * @param {string} str
+ * @returns {string}
+ * @todo This could be moved into a string utility file/class.
+ */
+function strWithHyphen(str = '') {
+  return str.length > 0 ? `${str}-` : '';
+}
+
 export default {
   setConf,
   draw,