apache/iceberg · error · IllegalArgumentException

Unexpected delete file content:

Error message

Unexpected delete file content: 

What it means

TableChange accumulates counts of delete files by content type, supporting POSITION_DELETES and EQUALITY_DELETES. Any DeleteFile whose content() is neither (e.g. DV-style or a future content type) triggers this IllegalArgumentException. It means the maintenance operator encountered a delete file content type it does not know how to account for.

Source

Thrown at flink/v2.2/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/iceberg/flink/maintenance/operator/TableChange.java:85

    dataFiles.forEach(
        dataFile -> {
          this.dataFileCount++;
          this.dataFileSizeInBytes += dataFile.fileSizeInBytes();
        });

    deleteFiles.forEach(
        deleteFile -> {
          switch (deleteFile.content()) {
            case POSITION_DELETES:
              this.posDeleteFileCount++;
              this.posDeleteRecordCount += deleteFile.recordCount();
              break;
            case EQUALITY_DELETES:
              this.eqDeleteFileCount++;
              this.eqDeleteRecordCount += deleteFile.recordCount();
              break;
            default:
              throw new IllegalArgumentException("Unexpected delete file content: " + deleteFile);
          }
        });

    this.commitCount = 1;
  }

  static TableChange empty() {
    return new TableChange(0, 0L, 0, 0L, 0, 0L, 0);
  }

  public static Builder builder() {
    return new Builder();
  }

  int dataFileCount() {
    return dataFileCount;
  }

View on GitHub (pinned to 86d9c8fc54)

Solutions

1. Upgrade the Iceberg Flink runtime to a version that supports the delete file content type in the table.
2. Check whether the table uses deletion vectors (format v3) and disable them or use a compatible writer if the maintenance job cannot be upgraded.
3. Identify the offending delete file from the exception message and inspect its content type.

if (deleteFile.content() != FileContent.POSITION_DELETES
    && deleteFile.content() != FileContent.EQUALITY_DELETES) {
  throw new IllegalStateException("Unsupported delete content: " + deleteFile.content());
}

When it happens

Trigger: A snapshot added delete files whose content is not POSITION_DELETES or EQUALITY_DELETES while TableChange is built from snapshot changes.

Common situations: Running the maintenance (rewrite/expire) operator against tables written with newer Iceberg features (e.g. deletion vectors) using an older Iceberg version that does not model that content type.

Related errors

• Unexpected delete file content: <deleteFile>
• Unexpected delete file content:
• Cannot read data task.
• Unexpected delete file content:
• Cannot read files that require applying delete files

AI-assisted analysis of apache/iceberg@86d9c8fc54 (2026-09-12). Data as JSON: /api/errors/61778349835729a9. Report an issue: GitHub.