hibernate/hibernate-orm · error · IntegrationException

ValidatorFactory reference (provided via '%s' setting) was n

Error message

ValidatorFactory reference (provided via '%s' setting) was not an instance of '%s': %s

What it means

Error "ValidatorFactory reference (provided via '%s' setting) was not an instance of '%s': %s" thrown in hibernate/hibernate-orm.

Source

Thrown at hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/boot/beanvalidation/TypeSafeActivator.java:725

			return jakartaValidationFactory;
		}
		final var jpaValidationFactory = cfgService.getSetting(
				JPA_VALIDATION_FACTORY,
				value -> validatorFactory( value, JPA_VALIDATION_FACTORY )
		);
		if ( jpaValidationFactory != null ) {
			DEPRECATION_LOGGER.deprecatedSetting( JPA_VALIDATION_FACTORY, JAKARTA_VALIDATION_FACTORY );
			return null;
		}
		return null;
	}

	private static ValidatorFactory validatorFactory(Object value, String setting) {
		if ( value instanceof ValidatorFactory validatorFactory ) {
			return validatorFactory;
		}
		else {
			throw new IntegrationException(
					String.format(
							Locale.ENGLISH,
							"ValidatorFactory reference (provided via '%s' setting) was not an instance of '%s': %s",
							setting,
							ValidatorFactory.class.getName(),
							value.getClass().getName()
					)
			);
		}
	}
}

View on GitHub (pinned to fad1729dce)

Solutions

1. Verify the object referenced by the given setting actually is a jakarta.validation.ValidatorFactory instance.
2. Remove mismatched javax.validation vs jakarta.validation artifacts from the classpath so only one validation API is visible.
3. If using JNDI lookup for the factory, confirm the JNDI binding holds a ValidatorFactory and not some other resource.

When it happens

Trigger: The ValidatorFactory supplied via configuration is of an incompatible type.

Common situations: Passing a non-jakarta ValidatorFactory (e.g. the old javax.validation one) through jakarta.persistence.validation.factory or a JNDI-bound factory after the javax-to-jakarta migration.

AI-assisted analysis of hibernate/hibernate-orm@fad1729dce (2026-08-22). Data as JSON: /api/errors/a5cd06e231eb3aeb. Report an issue: GitHub.