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 '}').

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;

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

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

• Malformed JSON. Expected object but got: " + event
• Expected JSON array end, but none found.
• Could not find selectable [%s] in embeddable type [%s] for J
• Can't parse JSON object for selectable [%s] which is not of
• Malformed JSON. Expected array but got: " + event

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