hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · SemanticException

Non-boolean expression used in predicate context: {}

Error message

Non-boolean expression used in predicate context: {}

What it means

Error "Non-boolean expression used in predicate context: {}" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/query/hql/internal/SemanticQueryBuilder.java:3477

	}

	@Override
	public SqmPredicate visitExistsCollectionPartPredicate(HqlParser.ExistsCollectionPartPredicateContext ctx) {
		final var subQuery = createCollectionReferenceSubQuery( ctx.simplePath(), null );
		return new SqmExistsPredicate( subQuery, nodeBuilder() );
	}

	@Override
	public SqmPredicate visitExistsPredicate(HqlParser.ExistsPredicateContext ctx) {
		final var expression = (SqmExpression<?>) ctx.expression().accept( this );
		return new SqmExistsPredicate( expression, nodeBuilder() );
	}

	@Override
	public SqmPredicate visitBooleanExpressionPredicate(HqlParser.BooleanExpressionPredicateContext ctx) {
		final var expression = (SqmExpression<?>) ctx.expression().accept( this );
		if ( resolveExpressibleJavaTypeClass( expression ) != Boolean.class ) {
			throw new SemanticException(
					"Non-boolean expression used in predicate context: " + ctx.getText(),
					query
			);
		}
		@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
		final var booleanExpression = (SqmExpression<Boolean>) expression;
		return new SqmBooleanExpressionPredicate( booleanExpression, nodeBuilder() );
	}

	@Override
	public Object visitEntityTypeExpression(HqlParser.EntityTypeExpressionContext ctx) {
		final var entityTypeReferenceContext = ctx.entityTypeReference();
		// can be one of 2 forms:
		//		1) TYPE( some.path )
		//		2) TYPE( :someParam )
		final var parameter = entityTypeReferenceContext.parameter();
		final var path = entityTypeReferenceContext.path();
		if ( parameter != null ) {

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Wrap the expression in a comparison so it yields a boolean.
2. Use the expression in a value context instead of a predicate context.

When it happens

Trigger: A path expression of the wrong type is used in a collection predicate.

Common situations: Applying member of / is empty / includes / intersects / in-array to non-plural expressions.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e7389db3e1c1e1b3. Report an issue: GitHub.