diff --git a/graphiti_core/prompts/extract_nodes.py b/graphiti_core/prompts/extract_nodes.py
index ebbaec87..845f1377 100644
--- a/graphiti_core/prompts/extract_nodes.py
+++ b/graphiti_core/prompts/extract_nodes.py
@@ -31,9 +31,13 @@ class MissedEntities(BaseModel):
 
 
 class EntityClassification(BaseModel):
-    entity_classification: str = Field(
+    entities: list[str] = Field(
         ...,
-        description='Dictionary of entity classifications. Key is the entity name and value is the entity type',
+        description='List of entities',
+    )
+    entity_classifications: list[str | None] = Field(
+        ...,
+        description='List of entities classifications. The index of the classification should match the index of the entity it corresponds to.',
     )
 
 
@@ -180,7 +184,8 @@ def classify_nodes(context: dict[str, Any]) -> list[Message]:
     
     Guidelines:
     1. Each entity must have exactly one type
-    2. If none of the provided entity types accurately classify an extracted node, the type should be set to None
+    2. Only use the provided ENTITY TYPES as types, do not use additional types to classify entities.
+    3. If none of the provided entity types accurately classify an extracted node, the type should be set to None
 """
     return [
         Message(role='system', content=sys_prompt),
diff --git a/graphiti_core/utils/maintenance/node_operations.py b/graphiti_core/utils/maintenance/node_operations.py
index 9bd963ab..425529d7 100644
--- a/graphiti_core/utils/maintenance/node_operations.py
+++ b/graphiti_core/utils/maintenance/node_operations.py
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
 limitations under the License.
 """
 
-import ast
 import logging
 from time import time
 
@@ -163,8 +162,9 @@ async def extract_nodes(
             prompt_library.extract_nodes.classify_nodes(node_classification_context),
             response_model=EntityClassification,
         )
-        response_string = llm_response.get('entity_classification', '{}')
-        node_classifications.update(ast.literal_eval(response_string))
+        entities = llm_response.get('entities', [])
+        entity_classifications = llm_response.get('entity_classifications', [])
+        node_classifications.update(dict(zip(entities, entity_classifications)))
 
     end = time()
     logger.debug(f'Extracted new nodes: {extracted_node_names} in {(end - start) * 1000} ms')
@@ -173,7 +173,9 @@ async def extract_nodes(
     for name in extracted_node_names:
         entity_type = node_classifications.get(name)
         labels = (
-            ['Entity'] if entity_type is None or entity_type == 'None' else ['Entity', entity_type]
+            ['Entity']
+            if entity_type is None or entity_type == 'None' or entity_type == 'null'
+            else ['Entity', entity_type]
         )
 
         new_node = EntityNode(
diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index 14a22012..bbe09393 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [tool.poetry]
 name = "graphiti-core"
-version = "0.7.4"
+version = "0.7.5"
 description = "A temporal graph building library"
 authors = [
     "Paul Paliychuk <paul@getzep.com>",