diff --git a/src/TextAnnotator.jsx b/src/TextAnnotator.jsx
index ae9f24d..8e58216 100644
--- a/src/TextAnnotator.jsx
+++ b/src/TextAnnotator.jsx
@@ -14,8 +14,6 @@ export default class TextAnnotator extends Component {
   state = {
     selectionBounds: null,
     selectedAnnotation: null,
-
-    showRelationEditor: false,
     selectedRelation: null,
 
     applyTemplate: null,
@@ -77,22 +75,59 @@ export default class TextAnnotator extends Component {
 
   /**
    * A convenience method that allows the external application to
-   * override the autogenerated Id.
+   * override the autogenerated Id for an annotation.
    * 
    * Usually, the override will happen almost immediately after
    * the annotation is created. But we need to be defensive and assume
    * that the override might come in with considerable delay, thus
    * the user might have made further edits already.
+   * 
+   * A key challenge here is that there may be dependencies between
+   * the original annotation and relations that were created meanwhile.
    */
-  overrideId = originalId => forcedId => {
-    // Force the editors to close, otherwise their annotations will be orphaned
+  overrideAnnotationId = originalAnnotation => forcedId => {
+    const { id } = originalAnnotation;
+
+    // After the annotation update, we need to update dependencies
+    // on the annotation layer, if any
+    const updateDependentRelations = updatedAnnotation => {
+      // Wait until the highlighter update has come into effect
+      requestAnimationFrame(() => {
+        this.relationsLayer.overrideTargetAnnotation(originalAnnotation, updatedAnnotation);
+      })
+    };
+
+    // Force the editors to close first, otherwise their annotations will be orphaned
     if (this.state.selectedAnnotation || this.state.selectedRelation) {
+      this.relationsLayer.resetDrawing();
       this.setState({
         selectedAnnotation: null,
         selectedRelation: null
-      }, () => this.highlighter.overrideId(originalId, forcedId));
+      }, () => {
+        const updated = this.highlighter.overrideId(id, forcedId);
+        updateDependentRelations(updated);
+      });
     } else {
-      this.highlighter.overrideId(originalId, forcedId);
+      const updated = this.highlighter.overrideId(id, forcedId);
+      updateDependentRelations(updated);
+    }
+  }
+
+  /** 
+   * A convenience method that allows the external application to
+   * override the autogenerated Id for a relation.
+   * 
+   * This operation is less problematic than .overrideAnnotation().
+   * We just need to make sure the RelationEditor is closed, so that
+   * the annotation doesn't become orphaned. Otherwise, there are
+   * no dependencies. 
+   */
+  overrideRelationId = originalId => forcedId => {
+    if (this.state.selectedRelation) {
+      this.setState({ selectedRelation: null }, () =>
+       this.relationsLayer.overrideId(originalId, forcedId));
+    } else {
+      this.relationsLayer.overrideId(originalId, forcedId);
     }
   }
 
@@ -107,7 +142,7 @@ export default class TextAnnotator extends Component {
     if (previous)
       this.props[method](annotation.clone(), previous.clone());
     else 
-      this.props[method](annotation.clone(), this.overrideId(annotation.id));
+      this.props[method](annotation.clone(), this.overrideAnnotationId(annotation));
   }
 
   onDeleteAnnotation = annotation => {
@@ -133,7 +168,7 @@ export default class TextAnnotator extends Component {
 
   // Shorthand
   closeRelationsEditor = () => {
-    this.setState({ showRelationEditor: false });
+    this.setState({ selectedRelation: null });
     this.relationsLayer.resetDrawing();
   }
 
@@ -143,7 +178,6 @@ export default class TextAnnotator extends Component {
    */
   onEditRelation = relation => {
     this.setState({ 
-      showRelationEditor: true,
       selectedRelation: relation
     });
   }
@@ -158,13 +192,8 @@ export default class TextAnnotator extends Component {
     // otherwise, fire 'update'
     const isNew = previous.annotation.bodies.length === 0;
 
-    // A convenience method that allows the external application to
-    // override the autogenerated Id
-    const overrideId = originalId => forcedId =>
-      this.relationsLayer.overrideId(originalId, forcedId);
-
     if (isNew)
-      this.props.onAnnotationCreated(relation.annotation.clone(), overrideId(relation.annotation.id));
+      this.props.onAnnotationCreated(relation.annotation.clone(), this.overrideRelationId(relation.annotation.id));
     else
       this.props.onAnnotationUpdated(relation.annotation.clone(), previous.annotation.clone());
   }
@@ -214,7 +243,7 @@ export default class TextAnnotator extends Component {
       this.relationsLayer.readOnly = false;
       this.relationsLayer.startDrawing();
     } else {
-      this.setState({ showRelationEditor: false });
+      this.setState({ selectedRelation: null });
       
       this.selectionHandler.enabled = true;
 
@@ -247,7 +276,7 @@ export default class TextAnnotator extends Component {
           </Editor>
         }
 
-        { this.state.showRelationEditor && 
+        { this.state.selectedRelation && 
           <RelationEditor 
             relation={this.state.selectedRelation}
             onRelationCreated={this.onCreateOrUpdateRelation}
diff --git a/src/highlighter/Highlighter.js b/src/highlighter/Highlighter.js
index 7acbdb1..3fc2f2f 100644
--- a/src/highlighter/Highlighter.js
+++ b/src/highlighter/Highlighter.js
@@ -95,10 +95,8 @@ export default class Highlighter {
    * 
    * @returns the updated annotation for convenience
    */
-  overrideId = (annotationOrId, forcedId) => {
-    const id = annotationOrId.id ? annotationOrId.id : annotationOrId;
-    
-    const allSpans = document.querySelectorAll(`.r6o-annotation[data-id="${id}"]`);
+  overrideId = (originalId, forcedId) => {    
+    const allSpans = document.querySelectorAll(`.r6o-annotation[data-id="${originalId}"]`);
     const annotation = allSpans[0].annotation; 
 
     const updatedAnnotation = annotation.clone({ id : forcedId });
diff --git a/src/relations/RelationsLayer.js b/src/relations/RelationsLayer.js
index b261696..9eec250 100644
--- a/src/relations/RelationsLayer.js
+++ b/src/relations/RelationsLayer.js
@@ -93,16 +93,23 @@ export default class RelationsLayer extends EventEmitter {
     }
   }
 
-  overrideId = (annotationOrId, forcedId) => {
-    const id = annotationOrId.id ? annotationOrId.id : annotationOrId;
-    const conn = this.connections.find(c => c.annotation.id == id);
-    
+  /** Overrides the ID for an existing relation **/
+  overrideRelationId = (originalId, forcedId) => {
+    const conn = this.connections.find(c => c.annotation.id == originalId);
     const updatedAnnotation = conn.annotation.clone({ id : forcedId });
     conn.annotation = updatedAnnotation;
-
     return conn;
   }
 
+  /** Overrides the given source or target annotation **/
+  overrideTargetAnnotation = (originalAnnotation, forcedAnnotation) => {
+    const affectedFrom = this.connections.filter(c => c.fromNode.annotation == originalAnnotation);
+    affectedFrom.forEach(c => c.fromNode.annotation = forcedAnnotation);
+
+    const affectedTo = this.connections.filter(c => c.toNode.annotation == originalAnnotation);
+    affectedTo.forEach(c => c.toNode.annotation = forcedAnnotation);
+  }
+
   getAllRelations = () => {
     return this.connections.map(c => c.annotation);
   }