diff --git a/api/src/nlp/controllers/nlp-entity.controller.ts b/api/src/nlp/controllers/nlp-entity.controller.ts
index 1deb0c83..6e439ba5 100644
--- a/api/src/nlp/controllers/nlp-entity.controller.ts
+++ b/api/src/nlp/controllers/nlp-entity.controller.ts
@@ -222,6 +222,21 @@ export class NlpEntityController extends BaseController<
     if (!ids?.length) {
       throw new BadRequestException('No IDs provided for deletion.');
     }
+
+    const { count: builtinCount } = await this.filterCount({
+      _id: { $in: ids },
+      builtin: true,
+    });
+
+    if (builtinCount) {
+      this.logger.warn(
+        `Unable to delete NLP entities with provided IDs: ${ids}`,
+      );
+      throw new NotFoundException(
+        'Cannot delete builtin NLP entities because at least one is built-in',
+      );
+    }
+
     const deleteResult = await this.nlpEntityService.deleteMany({
       _id: { $in: ids },
     });
diff --git a/frontend/src/components/nlp/components/NlpEntity.tsx b/frontend/src/components/nlp/components/NlpEntity.tsx
index 83b7c959..f039170f 100644
--- a/frontend/src/components/nlp/components/NlpEntity.tsx
+++ b/frontend/src/components/nlp/components/NlpEntity.tsx
@@ -267,6 +267,7 @@ const NlpEntity = () => {
         <DataGrid
           columns={nlpEntityColumns}
           {...nlpEntityGrid}
+          isRowSelectable={({ row }) => !row.builtin}
           checkboxSelection
           onRowSelectionModelChange={handleSelectionChange}
         />