What causes "Given object was not an instance of {} [{}]" in hibernate/hibernate-orm?

Supply a jakarta.validation.ValidatorFactory (built e.g. by Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory())

hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · IntegrationException

Given object was not an instance of {} [{}]

Error message

Given object was not an instance of {} [{}]

What it means

TypeSafeActivator.validateSuppliedFactory checks the object passed as the ValidatorFactory (the jakarta.persistence.validation.factory property). If it is not an instance of jakarta.validation.ValidatorFactory, this IntegrationException names the expected interface and the actual class. On a Jakarta-era Hibernate the classic cause is passing a javax.validation.ValidatorFactory left over from a pre-migration stack.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/beanvalidation/TypeSafeActivator.java:88

/**
 * Sets up Bean Validation {@linkplain BeanValidationEventListener event listener} and DDL-based constraints.
 *
 * @author Emmanuel Bernard
 * @author Hardy Ferentschik
 * @author Steve Ebersole
 */
class TypeSafeActivator {

	/**
	 * Used to validate a supplied ValidatorFactory instance as being castable to ValidatorFactory.
	 *
	 * @param object The supplied ValidatorFactory instance.
	 */
	@SuppressWarnings("unused")
	public static void validateSuppliedFactory(Object object) {
		if ( !(object instanceof ValidatorFactory) ) {
			throw new IntegrationException( "Given object was not an instance of " + ValidatorFactory.class.getName()
							+ " [" + object.getClass().getName() + "]" );
		}
	}

	@SuppressWarnings("unused")
	public static void activate(ActivationContext context) {
		final ValidatorFactory factory;
		try {
			factory = getValidatorFactory( context );
		}
		catch (IntegrationException exception) {
			if ( context.getValidationModes().contains( ValidationMode.CALLBACK ) ) {
				throw new IntegrationException( "Jakarta Validation provider was not available, but 'callback' validation mode was requested", exception );
			}
			else if ( context.getValidationConstraintDdlInfluence() == ValidationConstraintDdlInfluence.REQUIRED ) {
				throw new IntegrationException( "Jakarta Validation provider was not available, but '"
						+ APPLY_VALIDATION_CONSTRAINTS + "' was resolved to 'REQUIRED'", exception );
			}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

Supply a jakarta.validation.ValidatorFactory (built e.g. by Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory())
Update the producing bean/framework to the Jakarta namespace generation
Remove the property entirely and let Hibernate bootstrap its own factory

Example fix

// before (javax factory on a Jakarta stack)
props.put("jakarta.persistence.validation.factory", javaxValidatorFactory);

// after
props.put("jakarta.persistence.validation.factory",
          jakarta.validation.Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory());

Defensive patterns

Strategy: type-guard

Validate before calling

// check before putting the property into persistence unit settings
Object candidate = factoryBean;
if (!(candidate instanceof jakarta.validation.ValidatorFactory))
    throw new IllegalArgumentException(
        "validation.factory must be a jakarta.validation.ValidatorFactory, got "
        + (candidate == null ? "null" : candidate.getClass().getName()));
settings.put("jakarta.persistence.validation.factory", candidate);

Type guard

static jakarta.validation.ValidatorFactory asJakartaFactory(Object candidate) {
    if (candidate instanceof jakarta.validation.ValidatorFactory factory) return factory;
    throw new IllegalArgumentException(
        "Wrong factory type (javax/jakarta mismatch?): " + candidate.getClass().getName());
}

Try / catch

try {
    emf = Persistence.createEntityManagerFactory("pu", props);
} catch (IntegrationException e) {
    if (e.getMessage().startsWith("Given object was not an instance of"))
        throw new IllegalStateException(
            "Passed factory is from the wrong namespace/type; supply jakarta.validation.ValidatorFactory", e);
    throw e;
}

Prevention

After Jakarta migration, grep for javax.validation producers and the validation.factory property
Let Hibernate build its own ValidatorFactory unless injection is required

When it happens

Trigger: Setting the validation.factory property to an object of the wrong type — typically a javax.validation.ValidatorFactory on Hibernate 6+/Jakarta, a Spring LocalValidatorFactoryBean from an old Spring generation, or an unrelated bean wired into the property by mistake.

Common situations: Spring Boot 2→3 migrations; legacy @Bean producers still typed to javax.validation; copy-pasted configuration from older tutorials.

Related errors

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/04e38ac4969c6a53. Report an issue: GitHub.