diff --git a/infra/prism-api/src/main/java/com/evolveum/prism/xml/ns/_public/types_3/ItemType.java b/infra/prism-api/src/main/java/com/evolveum/prism/xml/ns/_public/types_3/ItemType.java
index e757123ba22..fffb3df4c4d 100644
--- a/infra/prism-api/src/main/java/com/evolveum/prism/xml/ns/_public/types_3/ItemType.java
+++ b/infra/prism-api/src/main/java/com/evolveum/prism/xml/ns/_public/types_3/ItemType.java
@@ -94,11 +94,18 @@ public String toString() {
                 '}';
     }
 
-    public static ItemType fromItem(Item item) {
+    public static ItemType fromItem(Item<?, ?> item) {
         if (item != null) {
             ItemType rv = new ItemType();
             rv.setName(item.getElementName());
-            rv.value.addAll(item.getRealValues());
+            if (item instanceof PrismContainer && (item.getDefinition() == null || ((PrismContainerDefinition) item.getDefinition()).getCompileTimeClass() == null)) {
+                // a special case -- item.getRealValues() does not work here (TODO generalize this)
+                for (PrismContainerValue<?> value : ((PrismContainer<?>) item).getValues()) {
+                    rv.value.add(new RawType(value, null, item.getPrismContext()));
+                }
+            } else {
+                rv.value.addAll(item.getRealValues());
+            }
             return rv;
         } else {
             return null;