hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · IllegalArgumentException

Root entity is not a subtype of '{}'

Error message

Root entity is not a subtype of '{}'

What it means

Error "Root entity is not a subtype of '{}'" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/query/restriction/NamedAttributeRange.java:34

 * Restricts an attribute of an entity to a given {@link Range},
 * using a stringly-typed attribute reference.
 *
 * @param <X> The entity type
 * @param <U> The attribute type
 *
 * @author Gavin King
 */
record NamedAttributeRange<X, U>(Class<X> entity, String attributeName, Range<U> range) implements Restriction<X> {
	@Override
	public Restriction<X> negated() {
		return new Negation<>( this );
	}

	@Override
	public Predicate toPredicate(Root<? extends X> root, CriteriaBuilder builder) {
		final EntityType<? extends X> entityType = root.getModel();
		if ( !entity.isAssignableFrom( entityType.getJavaType() ) ) {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Root entity is not a subtype of '" + entity.getTypeName() + "'" );
		}
		final Attribute<?, ?> attribute = entityType.getAttribute( attributeName );
		if ( !(attribute instanceof SingularAttribute) ) {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Attribute '" + attributeName + "' is not singular" );
		}
		final Class<? extends U> rangeType = range.getType();
		if ( rangeType != null && !rangeType.isAssignableFrom( attribute.getJavaType() ) ) {
			throw new IllegalArgumentException( "Attribute '" + attributeName
												+ "' is not assignable to range of type '" + rangeType.getName() + "'" );
		}
		return range.toPredicate( root.get( attributeName ), builder );
	}
}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. The root entity is not a subtype of the required type. Apply the restriction to a query whose root extends the required type.

When it happens

Trigger: A restriction targets an entity hierarchy mismatch: Root entity is not a subtype of '<value>'

Common situations: Applying a NamedAttributeRange whose root is not a subtype of the required entity.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/ca335442d69f9e59. Report an issue: GitHub.