diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/mapping/model/JdbcPersistentEntity.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/mapping/model/JdbcPersistentEntity.java
index 217d8d70..bbe2d69c 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/mapping/model/JdbcPersistentEntity.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/mapping/model/JdbcPersistentEntity.java
@@ -50,4 +50,8 @@ public class JdbcPersistentEntity<T> extends BasicPersistentEntity<T, JdbcPersis
 	public Object getIdValue(T instance) {
 		return getPropertyAccessor(instance).getProperty(getIdProperty());
 	}
+
+	public void setId(T instance, Object value) {
+		getPropertyAccessor(instance).setProperty(getIdProperty(),value);
+	}
 }
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/repository/SimpleJdbcRepository.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/repository/SimpleJdbcRepository.java
index 556e2a1e..e66502ac 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/repository/SimpleJdbcRepository.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/repository/SimpleJdbcRepository.java
@@ -28,6 +28,8 @@ import org.springframework.data.repository.CrudRepository;
 import org.springframework.jdbc.core.namedparam.MapSqlParameterSource;
 import org.springframework.jdbc.core.namedparam.NamedParameterJdbcOperations;
 import org.springframework.jdbc.core.namedparam.NamedParameterJdbcTemplate;
+import org.springframework.jdbc.support.GeneratedKeyHolder;
+import org.springframework.jdbc.support.KeyHolder;
 
 /**
  * @author Jens Schauder
@@ -50,22 +52,24 @@ public class SimpleJdbcRepository<T, ID extends Serializable> implements CrudRep
 	}
 
 	@Override
-	public <S extends T> S save(S entity) {
+	public <S extends T> S save(S instance) {
 
-		template.update(sql.getInsert(), getPropertyMap(entity));
+		KeyHolder holder = new GeneratedKeyHolder();
 
-		return entity;
+		template.update(
+				sql.getInsert(),
+				new MapSqlParameterSource(getPropertyMap(instance)),
+				holder);
+
+		entity.setId(instance, holder.getKey());
+
+		return instance;
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public <S extends T> Iterable<S> save(Iterable<S> entities) {
 
-		Map<String, ?>[] batchValues = StreamSupport
-				.stream(entities.spliterator(), false)
-				.map(i -> getPropertyMap(i))
-				.toArray(size -> new Map[size]);
-
-		template.batchUpdate(sql.getInsert(), batchValues);
+		entities.forEach(this::save);
 
 		return entities;
 	}
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/repository/JdbcRepositoryIntegrationTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/repository/JdbcRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
index 8af0faf1..0251b976 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/repository/JdbcRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/jdbc/repository/JdbcRepositoryIntegrationTests.java
@@ -19,9 +19,7 @@ import static java.util.Arrays.*;
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
 import static org.junit.Assert.*;
 
-import java.sql.SQLException;
 import org.junit.After;
-import org.junit.Assert;
 import org.junit.Test;
 import org.springframework.data.annotation.Id;
 import org.springframework.data.jdbc.repository.support.JdbcRepositoryFactory;
@@ -91,6 +89,26 @@ public class JdbcRepositoryIntegrationTests {
 				reloadedEntity.getName());
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void canSaveAndLoadAnEntityWithDatabaseBasedIdGeneration() {
+
+		entity = createDummyEntity(null);
+
+		entity = repository.save(entity);
+
+		assertThat(entity).isNotNull();
+
+		DummyEntity reloadedEntity = repository.findOne(entity.getId());
+
+		assertEquals(
+				entity.getId(),
+				reloadedEntity.getId());
+		assertEquals(
+				entity.getName(),
+				reloadedEntity.getName());
+	}
+
+
 	@Test
 	public void saveMany() {
 
@@ -101,6 +119,21 @@ public class JdbcRepositoryIntegrationTests {
 		assertThat(repository.findAll()).extracting(DummyEntity::getId).containsExactlyInAnyOrder(23L, 24L);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	public void saveManyWithIdGeneration() {
+
+		DummyEntity one = createDummyEntity(null);
+		DummyEntity two = createDummyEntity(null);
+
+		Iterable<DummyEntity> entities = repository.save(asList(one, two));
+
+		assertThat(entities).allMatch(e -> e.getId() != null);
+
+		assertThat(repository.findAll())
+				.extracting(DummyEntity::getId)
+				.containsExactlyInAnyOrder(new Long[]{one.getId(), two.getId()});
+	}
+
 	@Test
 	public void existsReturnsTrueIffEntityExists() {
 
@@ -195,13 +228,12 @@ public class JdbcRepositoryIntegrationTests {
 	}
 
 
-
 	private static DummyEntityRepository createRepository(EmbeddedDatabase db) {
 		return new JdbcRepositoryFactory(db).getRepository(DummyEntityRepository.class);
 	}
 
 
-	private static DummyEntity createDummyEntity(long id) {
+	private static DummyEntity createDummyEntity(Long id) {
 
 		DummyEntity entity = new DummyEntity();
 		entity.setId(id);
diff --git a/src/test/resources/org.springframework.data.jdbc.repository/createTable.sql b/src/test/resources/org.springframework.data.jdbc.repository/createTable.sql
index 6bfdd471..c818bad8 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/org.springframework.data.jdbc.repository/createTable.sql
+++ b/src/test/resources/org.springframework.data.jdbc.repository/createTable.sql
@@ -1 +1 @@
-CREATE TABLE dummyentity (ID BIGINT, NAME VARCHAR(100), PRIMARY KEY (ID))
\ No newline at end of file
+CREATE TABLE dummyentity (ID BIGINT GENERATED BY DEFAULT AS IDENTITY(START WITH 4711) PRIMARY KEY, NAME VARCHAR(100))
\ No newline at end of file