hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · IllegalArgumentException

not null makes no sense for in expression

Error message

not null makes no sense for in expression

What it means

InFragment is the legacy builder for SQL IN-list restrictions (used by old Criteria translators and discriminator restrictions). It understands a NULL sentinel — rendered as 'col is null or col in (...)' — but a NOT_NULL sentinel is meaningless inside an IN expression, so encountering it in the default branch throws IllegalArgumentException. The restriction as composed is logically impossible.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/sql/InFragment.java:95

					if ( NOT_NULL.equals( value ) ) {
						buf.append( " is not null" );
					}
					else {
						buf.append( '=' ).append( value );
					}
				}
				return buf.toString();
			}
			default: {
				boolean allowNull = false;

				for ( Object value : values ) {
					if ( NULL.equals( value ) ) {
						allowNull = true;
					}
					else {
						if ( NOT_NULL.equals( value ) ) {
							throw new IllegalArgumentException( "not null makes no sense for in expression" );
						}
					}
				}

				if ( allowNull ) {
					buf.append( '(' )
							.append( columnName )
							.append( " is null or " )
							.append( columnName )
							.append( " in (" );
				}
				else {
					buf.append( columnName ).append( " in (" );
				}

				for ( Object value : values ) {
					if ( !NULL.equals( value ) ) {
						buf.append( value );

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Remove the NOT_NULL sentinel from the value list — never pass InFragment.NOT_NULL to an IN fragment
2. Express 'is not null' with a dedicated isNotNull restriction/condition instead of the IN list
3. Migrate legacy Hibernate Criteria usage to JPA Criteria or JPAQL, which handle null semantics explicitly

Example fix

// before (legacy internal fragment usage)
InFragment frag = new InFragment();
frag.setColumnName("region_code");
frag.addValue(InFragment.NOT_NULL); // IllegalArgumentException

// after
frag.addValue("EMEA").addValue("APAC");
// and use a separate "region_code is not null" condition where needed

// if you must use InFragment, filter invalid sentinels first
for (Object value : values) {
    if (!InFragment.NOT_NULL.equals(value)) {
        fragment.addValue(value); // NULL is fine; NOT_NULL never is
    }
}

When it happens

Trigger: Legacy Criteria/Criterion code or custom restrictors plumbing InFragment.NOT_NULL through addValue(); discriminator-based filters reusing InFragment constants; ported code that used NOT NULL semantics from a different fragment type.

Common situations: Maintaining pre-JPA-Criteria code paths; custom dialect or restriction helpers built on org.hibernate.sql fragments; copying InFragment usage from old forum code.

Related errors

• Expected table group with table joins to have an entity type
• Query string is not a mutation
• Expecting a selection query, but found '{}'
• Select item was of wrong entity type
• Select item was not an entity type

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/e536b0794d643ee8. Report an issue: GitHub.