diff --git a/lib/core/BpmnImporter.js b/lib/core/BpmnImporter.js
index a28551c6..68637e69 100644
--- a/lib/core/BpmnImporter.js
+++ b/lib/core/BpmnImporter.js
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ BpmnImporter.prototype.addLabel = function (semantic, element) {
     id: semantic.id + '_label',
     labelTarget: element,
     type: 'label',
-    hidden: element.hidden || !semantic.name,
+    hidden: element.hidden,
     x: bounds.x,
     y: bounds.y,
     width: bounds.width,
diff --git a/lib/draw/BpmnRenderer.js b/lib/draw/BpmnRenderer.js
index 7daf98e3..0adb77a4 100644
--- a/lib/draw/BpmnRenderer.js
+++ b/lib/draw/BpmnRenderer.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 var _ = require('lodash');
 
 var DefaultRenderer = require('diagram-js/lib/draw/Renderer');
-var TextUtil = require('diagram-js/lib/util/TextUtil');
+var TextUtil = require('diagram-js/lib/util/Text');
 
 var DiUtil = require('../util/Di');
 
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ function BpmnRenderer(events, styles, pathMap) {
     fontSize: '12px'
   };
 
-  var labelUtil = new TextUtil({
+  var textUtil = new TextUtil({
     style: LABEL_STYLE,
     size: { width: 100 }
   });
@@ -276,7 +276,7 @@ function BpmnRenderer(events, styles, pathMap) {
   }
 
   function renderLabel(p, label, options) {
-    return labelUtil.createLabel(p, label || '', options).addClass('djs-label');
+    return textUtil.createText(p, label || '', options).addClass('djs-label');
   }
 
   function renderEmbeddedLabel(p, element, align) {
@@ -286,6 +286,11 @@ function BpmnRenderer(events, styles, pathMap) {
 
   function renderExternalLabel(p, element, align) {
     var semantic = getSemantic(element);
+
+    if (!semantic.name) {
+      element.hidden = true;
+    }
+
     return renderLabel(p, semantic.name, { box: element, align: align, style: { fontSize: '11px' } });
   }
 
diff --git a/lib/features/label-editing/LabelUtil.js b/lib/features/label-editing/LabelUtil.js
index e2b18fe8..8ba39932 100644
--- a/lib/features/label-editing/LabelUtil.js
+++ b/lib/features/label-editing/LabelUtil.js
@@ -33,8 +33,8 @@ module.exports.setLabel = function(element, text) {
 
   var label = element.label || element;
 
-  // hide label if not set
-  label.hidden = !text;
+  // show label
+  label.hidden = false;
 
   return label;
 };
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/features/modeling/ElementFactory.js b/lib/features/modeling/ElementFactory.js
index df367a21..58dbd9d5 100644
--- a/lib/features/modeling/ElementFactory.js
+++ b/lib/features/modeling/ElementFactory.js
@@ -65,9 +65,7 @@ ElementFactory.prototype.createRoot = function(attrs) {
 };
 
 ElementFactory.prototype.createLabel = function(attrs) {
-  return this.create('label', _.extend({
-    type: 'label'
-  }, LabelUtil.DEFAULT_LABEL_SIZE, attrs));
+  return this.create('label', _.extend({ type: 'label' }, LabelUtil.DEFAULT_LABEL_SIZE, attrs));
 };
 
 ElementFactory.prototype.createShape = function(attrs) {