diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/persister/entity/AbstractEntityPersister.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/persister/entity/AbstractEntityPersister.java
index 4c2d0ab1bd..2546bc304f 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/persister/entity/AbstractEntityPersister.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/persister/entity/AbstractEntityPersister.java
@@ -5283,7 +5283,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractEntityPersister
 	}
 
 	public Class getConcreteProxyClass() {
-		return getRepresentationStrategy().getProxyJavaTypeDescriptor().getJavaType();
+		final JavaTypeDescriptor<?> proxyJavaTypeDescriptor = getRepresentationStrategy().getProxyJavaTypeDescriptor();
+		return proxyJavaTypeDescriptor != null ? proxyJavaTypeDescriptor.getJavaType() : javaTypeDescriptor.getJavaType();
 	}
 
 	public void setPropertyValues(Object object, Object[] values) {