diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/hql/internal/ast/exec/DeleteExecutor.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/hql/internal/ast/exec/DeleteExecutor.java
index 0c2aca1f22..2803aba90a 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/hql/internal/ast/exec/DeleteExecutor.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/hql/internal/ast/exec/DeleteExecutor.java
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ public class DeleteExecutor extends BasicExecutor {
 							for ( String propertyName : componentType.getPropertyNames() ) {
 								Collections.addAll( columns, persister.toColumns( propertyName ) );
 							}
-							columnNames = columns.toArray( new String[columns.size()] );
+							columnNames = columns.toArray( new String[0] );
 						}
 						else {
 							columnNames = persister.getIdentifierColumnNames();