diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/BasicLoader.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/BasicLoader.java
index 7c8d04edcc..456a72fe41 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/BasicLoader.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/BasicLoader.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import java.util.List;
 
 import org.hibernate.engine.spi.SessionFactoryImplementor;
+import org.hibernate.loader.internal.AliasConstantsHelper;
 import org.hibernate.persister.collection.CollectionPersister;
 import org.hibernate.persister.entity.Loadable;
 import org.hibernate.type.BagType;
@@ -100,7 +101,7 @@ public static String[] generateSuffixes(int seed, int length) {
 
 		String[] suffixes = new String[length];
 		for ( int i = 0; i < length; i++ ) {
-			suffixes[i] = Integer.toString( i + seed ) + '_';
+			suffixes[i] = AliasConstantsHelper.get( i + seed );
 		}
 		return suffixes;
 	}
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/hql/QueryLoader.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/hql/QueryLoader.java
index 2a18ab50c5..eb2f93b67a 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/hql/QueryLoader.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/hql/QueryLoader.java
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 import org.hibernate.internal.IteratorImpl;
 import org.hibernate.internal.util.collections.ArrayHelper;
 import org.hibernate.loader.BasicLoader;
+import org.hibernate.loader.internal.AliasConstantsHelper;
 import org.hibernate.loader.spi.AfterLoadAction;
 import org.hibernate.param.ParameterSpecification;
 import org.hibernate.persister.collection.CollectionPersister;
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ private void initialize(SelectClause selectClause) {
 			entityAliases[i] = element.getClassAlias();
 			sqlAliasByEntityAlias.put( entityAliases[i], sqlAliases[i] );
 			// TODO should we just collect these like with the collections above?
-			sqlAliasSuffixes[i] = ( size == 1 ) ? "" : (Integer.toString( i ) + '_');
+			sqlAliasSuffixes[i] = ( size == 1 ) ? "" : AliasConstantsHelper.get( i );
 //			sqlAliasSuffixes[i] = element.getColumnAliasSuffix();
 			includeInSelect[i] = !element.isFetch();
 			if ( includeInSelect[i] ) {
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/internal/AliasConstantsHelper.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/internal/AliasConstantsHelper.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..7fe126ae2a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/loader/internal/AliasConstantsHelper.java
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+/*
+ * Hibernate, Relational Persistence for Idiomatic Java
+ *
+ * License: GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), version 2.1 or later.
+ * See the lgpl.txt file in the root directory or <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html>.
+ */
+package org.hibernate.loader.internal;
+
+/**
+ * @author Sanne Grinovero
+ */
+public final class AliasConstantsHelper {
+
+	private static final int MAX_POOL_SIZE = 40;
+	private static final String[] pool = initPool( MAX_POOL_SIZE );
+
+	/**
+	 * Returns the same as Integer.toString( i ) + '_'
+	 * Strings might be returned from a pool of constants, when i
+	 * is within the range of expected most commonly requested elements.
+	 *
+	 * @param i
+	 * @return
+	 */
+	public static String get(final int i) {
+		if ( i < MAX_POOL_SIZE && i >= 0 ) {
+			return pool[i];
+		}
+		else {
+			return internalAlias( i );
+		}
+	}
+
+	private static String[] initPool(final int maxPoolSize) {
+		String[] pool = new String[maxPoolSize];
+		for ( int i = 0; i < maxPoolSize; i++ ) {
+			pool[i] = internalAlias( i );
+		}
+		return pool;
+	}
+
+	private static String internalAlias(final int i) {
+		return Integer.toString( i ) + '_';
+	}
+
+}