hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · AnnotationException

Unknown entity name '{}'

Error message

Unknown entity name '{}'

What it means

Error "Unknown entity name '{}'" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/model/internal/BasicValueBinder.java:1491

		@Override
		public String getReferencedEntityName() {
			return referencedEntityName;
		}

		@Override
		public boolean isInPrimaryKey() {
			// @MapsId is not itself in the primary key,
			// so it's safe to simply process it after all the primary keys have been processed.
			return true;
		}

		@Override
		public void doSecondPass(Map<String, PersistentClass> persistentClasses) {
			final var referencedEntity = persistentClasses.get( referencedEntityName );
			if ( referencedEntity == null ) {
				// TODO: much better error message if this is something that can really happen!
				throw new AnnotationException( "Unknown entity name '" + referencedEntityName + "'" );
			}
			linkJoinColumnWithValueOverridingNameIfImplicit(
					referencedEntity,
					referencedEntity.getKey(),
					joinColumns,
					value
			);
		}
	}
}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Correct the entity name to one that is registered in the persistence unit.
2. If a custom entity name is used, make sure it matches the name declared in @Entity(name=...).

When it happens

Trigger: An association or reference targets a type that Hibernate has not mapped as an entity.

Common situations: Missing @Entity on the target class, the class not being scanned into the persistence unit, or a typo in the entity name.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/b3a65ddb73fa0811. Report an issue: GitHub.