apache/iceberg · error · IllegalArgumentException

Invalid iceberg type %s corresponding to ORC type %s

Error message

Invalid iceberg type %s corresponding to ORC type %s

What it means

FlinkOrcReader maps Iceberg primitive types to ORC value readers. When an Iceberg primitive has no ORC reader implementation in the switch, it throws IllegalArgumentException 'Invalid iceberg type %s corresponding to ORC type %s', naming both the Iceberg type and the ORC type it failed to map.

Source

Thrown at flink/v1.20/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/flink/data/FlinkOrcReader.java:132

          }
        case TIMESTAMP_NANO:
          Types.TimestampNanoType timestampNanoType = (Types.TimestampNanoType) iPrimitive;
          if (timestampNanoType.shouldAdjustToUTC()) {
            return FlinkOrcReaders.timestampTzs();
          } else {
            return FlinkOrcReaders.timestamps();
          }
        case STRING:
          return FlinkOrcReaders.strings();
        case UUID:
        case FIXED:
        case BINARY:
          return OrcValueReaders.bytes();
        case DECIMAL:
          Types.DecimalType decimalType = (Types.DecimalType) iPrimitive;
          return FlinkOrcReaders.decimals(decimalType.precision(), decimalType.scale());
        default:
          throw new IllegalArgumentException(
              String.format(
                  "Invalid iceberg type %s corresponding to ORC type %s", iPrimitive, primitive));
      }
    }
  }
}

View on GitHub (pinned to 86d9c8fc54)

Solutions

Upgrade iceberg-flink to a version supporting the type
Exclude the unsupported column from the projection (select only supported columns)
Convert the table's data files to a format (e.g. Parquet) that supports the type

Example fix

// before
scan.select("nano_ts_col") on ORC files -> throws
// after
scan.select("supported_cols_only") or upgrade the connector

Defensive patterns

Strategy: validation

Validate before calling

schema.columns().forEach(f -> { if (f.type().isPrimitiveType()) checkOrcReaderSupported(f.type().asPrimitiveType()); });

Try / catch

try { read(scan); } catch (IllegalArgumentException e) { LOG.error("ORC read failed: {}", e.getMessage()); throw e; }

Prevention

Keep connector versions current
Restrict projections to supported columns
Prefer Parquet for newer type features

When it happens

Trigger: Reading ORC data files whose Iceberg schema contains a primitive the ORC reader path does not support.

Common situations: Tables written by newer Iceberg versions with types unsupported by the pinned Flink ORC integration; version skew between modules; unusual column types in ORC-backed tables.

Understand the failure class

Background: "is not a compatible type" / "cannot merge" errors: when a value's type doesn't match what the library requires — this error's family across 65 libraries.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of apache/iceberg@86d9c8fc54 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/8c20f6df18c2fcd3. Report an issue: GitHub.