diff --git a/nw/core/project.py b/nw/core/project.py
index c981e4c8..6b17b51a 100644
--- a/nw/core/project.py
+++ b/nw/core/project.py
@@ -449,7 +449,15 @@ class NWProject():
                         self.importItems.unpackEntries(xItem)
                     elif xItem.tag == "autoReplace":
                         for xEntry in xItem:
-                            self.autoReplace[xEntry.tag] = checkString(xEntry.text, None, False)
+                            if xEntry.tag == "entry":
+                                if "key" in xEntry.attrib:
+                                    self.autoReplace[xEntry.attrib["key"]] = checkString(
+                                        xEntry.text, None, False
+                                    )
+                            else: # Old format
+                                self.autoReplace[xEntry.tag] = checkString(
+                                    xEntry.text, None, False
+                                )
                     elif xItem.tag == "titleFormat":
                         titleFormat = self.titleFormat.copy()
                         for xEntry in xItem:
@@ -501,7 +509,7 @@ class NWProject():
 
         # Root element and project details
         logger.debug("Writing project meta")
-        nwXML = etree.Element("novelWriterXML",attrib={
+        nwXML = etree.Element("novelWriterXML", attrib={
             "appVersion"  : str(nw.__version__),
             "hexVersion"  : str(nw.__hexversion__),
             "fileVersion" : "1.1",
@@ -533,11 +541,7 @@ class NWProject():
         self._packProjectValue(xSettings, "lastWordCount", self.currWCount)
         self._packProjectValue(xSettings, "novelWordCount", wcNovel)
         self._packProjectValue(xSettings, "notesWordCount", wcNotes)
-
-        xAutoRep = etree.SubElement(xSettings, "autoReplace")
-        for aKey, aValue in self.autoReplace.items():
-            if len(aKey) > 0:
-                self._packProjectValue(xAutoRep, aKey, aValue)
+        self._packProjectKeyValue(xSettings, "autoReplace", self.autoReplace)
 
         xTitleFmt = etree.SubElement(xSettings, "titleFormat")
         for aKey, aValue in self.titleFormat.items():
@@ -1041,10 +1045,20 @@ class NWProject():
             if not isinstance(aValue, str):
                 aValue = str(aValue)
             if aValue == "" and not allowNone: continue
-            xItem = etree.SubElement(xParent,theName)
+            xItem = etree.SubElement(xParent, theName)
             xItem.text = aValue
         return
 
+    def _packProjectKeyValue(self, xParent, theName, theDict):
+        """Pack the entries in the auto-replace dictionary.
+        """
+        xAutoRep = etree.SubElement(xParent, theName)
+        for aKey, aValue in theDict.items():
+            if len(aKey) > 0:
+                xEntry = etree.SubElement(xAutoRep, "entry", attrib={"key": aKey})
+                xEntry.text = aValue
+        return
+
     def _scanProjectFolder(self):
         """Scan the project folder and check that the files in it are
         also in the project XML file. If they aren't, import them as
diff --git a/sample/nwProject.nwx b/sample/nwProject.nwx
index ecdc1d0c..015816ff 100644
--- a/sample/nwProject.nwx
+++ b/sample/nwProject.nwx
@@ -1,13 +1,13 @@
 <?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>
-<novelWriterXML appVersion="0.10.0rc1" hexVersion="0x001000c1" fileVersion="1.1" timeStamp="2020-06-26 18:36:47">
+<novelWriterXML appVersion="0.10.0rc1" hexVersion="0x001000c1" fileVersion="1.1" timeStamp="2020-06-26 19:29:32">
   <project>
     <name>Sample Project</name>
     <title>Sample Project</title>
     <author>Jane Smith</author>
     <author>Jay Doh</author>
-    <saveCount>587</saveCount>
+    <saveCount>589</saveCount>
     <autoCount>102</autoCount>
-    <editTime>24235</editTime>
+    <editTime>24247</editTime>
   </project>
   <settings>
     <doBackup>False</doBackup>
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@
     <novelWordCount>606</novelWordCount>
     <notesWordCount>376</notesWordCount>
     <autoReplace>
-      <A>B</A>
-      <B>E</B>
-      <C>D</C>
+      <entry key="A">B</entry>
+      <entry key="B">E</entry>
+      <entry key="C">D</entry>
     </autoReplace>
     <titleFormat>
       <title>%title%</title>