diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/internal/engine/cascading/ArrayElement.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/internal/engine/cascading/ArrayElement.java
index 71441e2ec2..77840fb374 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/internal/engine/cascading/ArrayElement.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/internal/engine/cascading/ArrayElement.java
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 import java.lang.annotation.Annotation;
 import java.lang.reflect.AnnotatedArrayType;
 import java.lang.reflect.AnnotatedType;
-import java.lang.reflect.GenericArrayType;
 import java.lang.reflect.Type;
 import java.lang.reflect.TypeVariable;
 
@@ -57,17 +56,12 @@ else if ( arrayElementType == char.class ) {
 	}
 
 	public ArrayElement(Type arrayType) {
-		if ( arrayType instanceof GenericArrayType ) {
-			this.containerClass = Object[].class;
+		Class<?> arrayClass = ReflectionHelper.getClassFromType( arrayType );
+		if ( arrayClass.getComponentType().isPrimitive() ) {
+			this.containerClass = arrayClass;
 		}
 		else {
-			Class<?> arrayClass = ReflectionHelper.getClassFromType( arrayType );
-			if ( arrayClass.getComponentType().isPrimitive() ) {
-				this.containerClass = arrayClass;
-			}
-			else {
-				this.containerClass = Object[].class;
-			}
+			this.containerClass = Object[].class;
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/engine/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/internal/util/ReflectionHelper.java b/engine/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/internal/util/ReflectionHelper.java
index 0221bf79ad..0b1695f01a 100644
--- a/engine/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/internal/util/ReflectionHelper.java
+++ b/engine/src/main/java/org/hibernate/validator/internal/util/ReflectionHelper.java
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
 import java.lang.reflect.Executable;
 import java.lang.reflect.Field;
+import java.lang.reflect.GenericArrayType;
 import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
 import java.lang.reflect.Member;
 import java.lang.reflect.Method;
@@ -301,6 +302,9 @@ public static Class<?> getClassFromType(Type type) {
 		if ( type instanceof ParameterizedType ) {
 			return getClassFromType( ( (ParameterizedType) type ).getRawType() );
 		}
+		if ( type instanceof GenericArrayType ) {
+			return Object[].class;
+		}
 		throw log.getUnableToConvertTypeToClassException( type );
 	}