hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · IllegalStateException

cannot generate an EntityKey when id is null.

Error message

cannot generate an EntityKey when id is null.

What it means

Error "cannot generate an EntityKey when id is null." thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/internal/EntityEntryImpl.java:254

	public Object getVersion() {
		return version;
	}

	@Override
	public void postInsert(Object version) {
		this.version = version;
	}

	@Override
	public EntityPersister getPersister() {
		return persister;
	}

	@Override
	public EntityKey getEntityKey() {
		if ( cachedEntityKey == null ) {
			if ( id == null ) {
				throw new IllegalStateException( "cannot generate an EntityKey when id is null.");
			}
			cachedEntityKey = new EntityKey( id, persister );
		}
		return cachedEntityKey;
	}

	@Override
	public String getEntityName() {
		return persister == null ? null : persister.getEntityName();

	}

	@Override
	public Object getRowId() {
		return rowId;
	}

	@Override

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Persist or merge the entity first so its identifier is generated before building an EntityKey
2. Do not call generateEntityKey with a null id; check the entity has been assigned an identifier

When it happens

Trigger: Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/internal/EntityEntryImpl.java:254 when the library encounters an invalid state.

Common situations: See trigger scenarios.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/c29929a499b8db57. Report an issue: GitHub.