hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · IllegalArgumentException

Expected JSON object end, but none found.

Error message

Expected JSON object end, but none found.

What it means

JsonHelper.consumeJsonDocumentItems loops until the reader's OBJECT_END; if the reader is exhausted while still inside an object, it falls out of the loop and throws IllegalArgumentException('Expected JSON object end, but none found.') - the stored JSON is truncated or otherwise unterminated (missing '}').

Solutions

1. Repair the affected rows (rewrite valid JSON) and find the writer that produced truncated documents.
2. Enlarge the column (VARCHAR(n) bigger or use jsonb/json/TEXT types) so documents are never cut.
3. Ensure all writes go through the Hibernate mapping / a validating JsonFormatMapper.

Example fix

-- before: column too short, writes truncated the document
ALTER TABLE product ALTER COLUMN attrs TYPE varchar(100); -- doc got cut
-- load fails: Expected JSON object end, but none found.

-- after: use a JSON-capable/longer column and repair rows
ALTER TABLE product ALTER COLUMN attrs TYPE jsonb;
UPDATE product SET attrs = '{}' WHERE NOT attrs::text LIKE '%}';

// Before Hibernate reads it, confirm the column parses and closes its object
static void assertWellFormed(String json) {
    try {
        new org.json.JSONObject(json); // throws on truncated/unterminated objects
    } catch (Exception e) {
        throw new IllegalArgumentException("Broken JSON in column: " + json, e);
    }
}

try {
    return session.find(Product.class, id);
} catch (IllegalArgumentException e) {
    if (e.getMessage() != null && e.getMessage().startsWith("Expected JSON object end")) {
        // truncated/unterminated object in the column: repair the row and enlarge the column
    } else {
        throw e;
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Reading a JSON-mapped embeddable whose column value is a truncated/unterminated object: a column too short for the document, a writer that truncated the string, or a document broken by manual editing.

Common situations: VARCHAR columns whose length silently truncates JSON on write (strict mode off); migration scripts that cut strings; hand-edited rows; buggy custom serialization writing partial documents.

Related errors

• Expected JSON array end, but none found.
• Malformed JSON. Expected object but got: " + event
• Can't find ending quote of key name
• Can't parse JSON object for selectable
• Could not find selectable

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/f33dd7dd5ba88beb. Report an issue: GitHub.

Appendix: source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/type/descriptor/jdbc/JsonHelper.java:208

					);
					currentSelectableData = null;
				}
				case VALUE -> {
					final JdbcMapping jdbcMapping = currentLevel.determineJdbcMapping( currentSelectableData );
					currentLevel.addValue(
							currentSelectableData,
							adapter.fromValue(
									jdbcMapping.getJdbcJavaType(),
									jdbcMapping.getJdbcType(),
									reader,
									options
							)
					);
					currentSelectableData = null;
				}
			}
		}
		throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Expected JSON object end, but none found." );
	}

	/**
	 * Deserialize a JSON value to Java Object
	 * @param embeddableMappingType the mapping type
	 * @param reader the JSON reader
	 * @param returnEmbeddable do we return an Embeddable object or array of Objects
	 * @param options wrappping options
	 * @return the deserialized value
	 */
	public static <X> X deserialize(
			EmbeddableMappingType embeddableMappingType,
			JsonDocumentReader reader,
			boolean returnEmbeddable,
			WrapperOptions options) throws SQLException {
		final JsonDocumentItemType event;
		if ( !reader.hasNext() || ( event = reader.next() ) == JsonDocumentItemType.NULL_VALUE ) {
			return null;

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