hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · IllegalArgumentException

illegal unit: {unit}

Error message

illegal unit: {unit}

What it means

Error "illegal unit: {unit}" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/dialect/Dialect.java:6181

	 * {@link TemporalUnit#NANOSECOND},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#NATIVE},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#OFFSET},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#DAY_OF_WEEK},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#DAY_OF_MONTH},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#DAY_OF_YEAR},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#DATE},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#TIME},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#TIMEZONE_HOUR},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#TIMEZONE_MINUTE},
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#WEEK_OF_YEAR}, nor
	 * {@link TemporalUnit#WEEK_OF_MONTH},
	 * which are not units of duration.
	 */
	public String translateDurationField(TemporalUnit unit) {
		return switch (unit) {
			case NATIVE -> "nanosecond"; // default to nanosecond for now
			case DAY_OF_MONTH, DAY_OF_YEAR, DAY_OF_WEEK, WEEK_OF_MONTH, WEEK_OF_YEAR, OFFSET, TIMEZONE_HOUR, TIMEZONE_MINUTE, DATE, TIME ->
					throw new IllegalArgumentException( "illegal unit: " + unit );
			default -> unit.toString();
		};
	}

	/**
	 * Append a datetime literal representing the given {@link java.time}
	 * value to the given {@link SqlAppender}.
	 */
	public void appendDateTimeLiteral(
			SqlAppender appender,
			TemporalAccessor temporalAccessor,
			@SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
			TemporalType precision,
			TimeZone jdbcTimeZone) {
		switch ( precision ) {
			case DATE:
				appender.appendSql( JDBC_ESCAPE_START_DATE );
				appendAsDate( appender, temporalAccessor );

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Use a supported TemporalUnit (SECOND, MINUTE, HOUR, DAY, etc.).
2. Check the unit name for typos.

When it happens

Trigger: Triggered when the application calls a Hibernate dialect feature that the configured database dialect cannot provide: illegal unit: the given unit.

Common situations: Common when running against a database whose dialect lacks this capability, when a mapping or HQL/Criteria query requests unsupported functionality, or when the wrong dialect is configured for the database in use. Error: illegal unit: the given unit.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/7e8715614ffc0468. Report an issue: GitHub.