hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · AnnotationException

Embeddable class '%s' defines an inheritance hierarchy and c

Error message

Embeddable class '%s' defines an inheritance hierarchy and cannot be used in an '@EmbeddedId'

What it means

Error "Embeddable class '%s' defines an inheritance hierarchy and cannot be used in an '@EmbeddedId'" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/internal/EmbeddableBinder.java:721

			PropertyHolder holder,
			MetadataBuildingContext context) {
		assert embeddable.getDiscriminator() == null;
		final var columns = new AnnotatedColumns();
		columns.setPropertyHolder( holder );
		columns.setBuildingContext( context );
		discriminatorColumn.setParent( columns );
		final var discriminatorColumnBinding = new BasicValue( context, embeddable.getTable() );
		discriminatorColumnBinding.setAggregateColumn( embeddable.getAggregateColumn() );
		embeddable.setDiscriminator( discriminatorColumnBinding );
		discriminatorColumn.linkWithValue( discriminatorColumnBinding );
		discriminatorColumnBinding.setTypeName( discriminatorColumn.getDiscriminatorTypeName() );
	}

	private static void validateInheritanceIsSupported(
			PropertyHolder holder,
			CompositeUserType<?> compositeUserType) {
		if ( holder.isOrWithinEmbeddedId() ) {
			throw new AnnotationException( String.format(
					"Embeddable class '%s' defines an inheritance hierarchy and cannot be used in an '@EmbeddedId'",
					holder.getClassName()
			) );
		}
		else if ( holder.isInIdClass() ) {
			throw new AnnotationException( String.format(
					"Embeddable class '%s' defines an inheritance hierarchy and cannot be used in an '@IdClass'",
					holder.getClassName()
			) );
		}
		else if ( compositeUserType != null ) {
			throw new AnnotationException( String.format(
					"Embeddable class '%s' defines an inheritance hierarchy and cannot be used with a custom '@CompositeType'",
					holder.getClassName()
			) );
		}
	}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Use an embeddable class without an inheritance hierarchy as the @EmbeddedId.

When it happens

Trigger: An annotation restricted to the root of an inheritance hierarchy is placed on a subclass (or the hierarchy rules are otherwise violated).

Common situations: SINGLE_TABLE/JOINED hierarchies where @Table, @DiscriminatorColumn, @DiscriminatorFormula, @Cache, @Immutable, @Id or @Version are declared on the wrong class of the hierarchy.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/5950dc960c4d8a0e. Report an issue: GitHub.