diff --git a/grails-hibernate/src/main/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/cfg/GrailsDomainBinder.java b/grails-hibernate/src/main/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/cfg/GrailsDomainBinder.java
index da28a007abc..9a6f78f5970 100644
--- a/grails-hibernate/src/main/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/cfg/GrailsDomainBinder.java
+++ b/grails-hibernate/src/main/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/cfg/GrailsDomainBinder.java
@@ -1368,11 +1368,11 @@ public static Mapping getMapping(Class<?> theClass) {
     public static Mapping getMapping(GrailsDomainClass domainClass) {
         return domainClass == null ? null : MAPPING_CACHE.get(domainClass.getClazz());
     }
-    
+
     public static void clearMappingCache() {
         MAPPING_CACHE.clear();
     }
-    
+
     public static void clearMappingCache(Class<?> theClass) {
         String className = theClass.getName();
         for(Iterator<Map.Entry<Class<?>, Mapping>> it = MAPPING_CACHE.entrySet().iterator(); it.hasNext();) {
@@ -1807,7 +1807,14 @@ protected static void createClassProperties(GrailsDomainClass domainClass, Persi
 
             Class<?> userType = getUserType(currentGrailsProp);
 
-            if (collectionType != null) {
+            if (userType != null) {
+                if (LOG.isDebugEnabled()) {
+                    LOG.debug("[GrailsDomainBinder] Binding property [" + currentGrailsProp.getName() + "] as SimpleValue");
+                }
+                value = new SimpleValue(mappings, table);
+                bindSimpleValue(currentGrailsProp, null, (SimpleValue) value, EMPTY_PATH, mappings, sessionFactoryBeanName);
+            }
+            else if (collectionType != null) {
                 String typeName = getTypeName(currentGrailsProp, getPropertyConfig(currentGrailsProp),gormMapping);
                 if ("serializable".equals(typeName)) {
                     value = new SimpleValue(mappings, table);
diff --git a/grails-test-suite-persistence/src/test/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/CustomUserTypeOverridesGrailsMapMappingTests.groovy b/grails-test-suite-persistence/src/test/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/CustomUserTypeOverridesGrailsMapMappingTests.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6c14ce5da6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/grails-test-suite-persistence/src/test/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/CustomUserTypeOverridesGrailsMapMappingTests.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+package org.codehaus.groovy.grails.orm.hibernate
+
+import grails.persistence.Entity
+
+import org.codehaus.groovy.grails.orm.hibernate.cfg.MapFakeUserType
+
+class CustomUserTypeOverridesGrailsMapMappingTests extends AbstractGrailsHibernateTests {
+
+    void testUserTypeOverridesGrailsMapMappingTests() {
+        def d = new DomainUserTypeMappings()
+
+        d.myMap = [foo:"bar"]
+
+        assert d.save(flush:true) != null
+
+        // the map should not be mapped onto a join table but instead a single column
+        session.connection().prepareStatement("select my_map from domain_user_type_mappings").execute()
+
+        session.clear()
+
+        d = DomainUserTypeMappings.get(d.id)
+
+        assert d != null
+    }
+
+    @Override protected getDomainClasses() {
+        [DomainUserTypeMappings]
+    }
+}
+
+@Entity
+class DomainUserTypeMappings {
+    Map<String, String> myMap
+
+    static mapping = {
+        myMap type:MapFakeUserType
+    }
+}
diff --git a/grails-test-suite-persistence/src/test/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/cfg/MapFakeUserType.groovy b/grails-test-suite-persistence/src/test/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/cfg/MapFakeUserType.groovy
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..e0a3cc914e9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/grails-test-suite-persistence/src/test/groovy/org/codehaus/groovy/grails/orm/hibernate/cfg/MapFakeUserType.groovy
@@ -0,0 +1,60 @@
+package org.codehaus.groovy.grails.orm.hibernate.cfg
+
+import java.io.Serializable
+import java.sql.PreparedStatement
+import java.sql.ResultSet
+import java.sql.SQLException
+import java.sql.Types
+import java.util.HashMap
+import java.util.Map
+
+import org.hibernate.HibernateException
+import org.hibernate.usertype.UserType
+
+public class MapFakeUserType implements UserType {
+
+    int[] sqlTypes() { Types.VARCHAR }
+    Class returnedClass() { MapFakeUserType }
+
+    public Object nullSafeGet(ResultSet rs, String[] names, owner) throws SQLException {
+        String name = rs.getString(names[0])
+        rs.wasNull() ? null : new MapFakeUserType(name: name)
+    }
+
+    public void nullSafeSet(PreparedStatement ps, value, int index) throws SQLException {
+        if (value == null) {
+            ps.setNull(index, Types.VARCHAR)
+        }
+        else {
+            ps.setString(index, value.name)
+        }
+    }
+
+    public boolean equals(Object x, Object y) throws HibernateException {
+        return x == y;
+    }
+
+    public int hashCode(Object x) throws HibernateException {
+        return x.hashCode();
+    }
+
+    public Object deepCopy(Object value) throws HibernateException {
+        return value;
+    }
+
+    public boolean isMutable() {
+        return false;
+    }
+
+    public Serializable disassemble(Object value) throws HibernateException {
+        return (Serializable)value;
+    }
+
+    public Object assemble(Serializable cached, Object owner) throws HibernateException {
+        return cached;
+    }
+
+    public Object replace(Object original, Object target, Object owner) throws HibernateException {
+        return original;
+    }
+}