hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · AnnotationException

Entity '<entityName>' is a subclass in an entity inheritance

Error message

Entity '<entityName>' is a subclass in an entity inheritance hierarchy and may not redefine the identifier of the root entity

What it means

Error "Entity '<entityName>' is a subclass in an entity inheritance hierarchy and may not redefine the identifier of the root entity" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/internal/EntityBinder.java:783

			// No id property found in the associated class,
			// or multiple id properties but no @IdClass
			return false;
		}
	}

	private Component bindIdClass(
			PropertyData inferredData,
			PropertyData baseInferredData,
			PropertyHolder propertyHolder,
			AccessType propertyAccessor,
			MetadataBuildingContext buildingContext,
			Map<ClassDetails, InheritanceState> inheritanceStates) {
		propertyHolder.setInIdClass( true );

		// Fill simple value and property since and Id is a property
		final var persistentClass = propertyHolder.getPersistentClass();
		if ( !( persistentClass instanceof RootClass rootClass ) ) {
			throw new AnnotationException( "Entity '" + persistentClass.getEntityName()
					+ "' is a subclass in an entity inheritance hierarchy and may not redefine the identifier of the root entity" );
		}
		final var id = fillEmbeddable(
				propertyHolder,
				inferredData,
				baseInferredData,
				propertyAccessor,
				annotatedClass,
				false,
				this,
				true,
				false,
				false,
				null,
				null,
				null,
				buildingContext,
				inheritanceStates,

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Remove the identifier redefinition from the subclass; only the root entity declares the identifier.

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/22d5747935b903a5. Report an issue: GitHub.