diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jdbc/internal/HighlightingFormatter.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jdbc/internal/HighlightingFormatter.java
index a3fa919603..f75a87a113 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jdbc/internal/HighlightingFormatter.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/engine/jdbc/internal/HighlightingFormatter.java
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ import java.util.HashSet;
 import java.util.Set;
 import java.util.StringTokenizer;
 
+import static org.hibernate.internal.util.StringHelper.isEmpty;
+
 /**
  * Performs basic syntax highlighting for SQL using ANSI escape codes.
  *
@@ -57,6 +59,10 @@ public final class HighlightingFormatter implements Formatter {
 
 	@Override
 	public String format(String sql) {
+		if ( isEmpty( sql ) ) {
+			return sql;
+		}
+
 		StringBuilder result = new StringBuilder();
 		boolean inString = false;
 		boolean inQuoted = false;
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/id/insert/BasicSelectingDelegate.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/id/insert/BasicSelectingDelegate.java
index 30829f46b3..8a1526d548 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/id/insert/BasicSelectingDelegate.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/id/insert/BasicSelectingDelegate.java
@@ -8,9 +8,11 @@ package org.hibernate.id.insert;
 
 import org.hibernate.MappingException;
 import org.hibernate.boot.model.relational.SqlStringGenerationContext;
+import org.hibernate.boot.registry.classloading.internal.ClassLoaderServiceImpl;
 import org.hibernate.dialect.Dialect;
 import org.hibernate.engine.spi.SessionFactoryImplementor;
 import org.hibernate.id.PostInsertIdentityPersister;
+import org.hibernate.internal.CoreLogging;
 import org.hibernate.jdbc.Expectation;
 import org.hibernate.metamodel.mapping.BasicEntityIdentifierMapping;
 import org.hibernate.sql.model.ast.builder.TableInsertBuilder;
@@ -63,6 +65,9 @@ public class BasicSelectingDelegate extends AbstractSelectingDelegate {
 
 	@Override
 	protected String getSelectSQL() {
+		if ( persister.getIdentitySelectString() == null && !dialect.getIdentityColumnSupport().supportsInsertSelectIdentity() ) {
+			throw CoreLogging.messageLogger( BasicSelectingDelegate.class ).nullIdentitySelectString();
+		}
 		return persister.getIdentitySelectString();
 	}
 }
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/internal/CoreMessageLogger.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/internal/CoreMessageLogger.java
index 1051d980fd..f64d20f198 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/internal/CoreMessageLogger.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/internal/CoreMessageLogger.java
@@ -1824,4 +1824,8 @@ public interface CoreMessageLogger extends BasicLogger {
 			id = 514)
 	void postgreSQLJdbcDriverNotAccessible();
 
+	@Message(value = "The identity select string is undefined for the dialect in use. Check the identity generation configuration, in particular the 'hibernate.jdbc.use_get_generated_keys' setting",
+			id = 515)
+	HibernateException nullIdentitySelectString();
+
 }
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/id/IdentityIdEntityTest.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/id/IdentityIdEntityTest.java
index f189328157..dcc8d2824a 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/id/IdentityIdEntityTest.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/id/IdentityIdEntityTest.java
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import jakarta.persistence.Id;
 
 import org.hibernate.cfg.AvailableSettings;
 import org.hibernate.dialect.H2Dialect;
+import org.hibernate.dialect.OracleDialect;
 
 import org.hibernate.testing.TestForIssue;
 import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.DomainModel;
@@ -26,13 +27,12 @@ import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.Setting;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertTrue;
 import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.fail;
 
 /**
  * @author Jan Schatteman
  */
-@TestForIssue(jiraKey = "HHH-15561")
-@RequiresDialect( value = H2Dialect.class )
 public class IdentityIdEntityTest {
 
 	@AfterEach
@@ -43,11 +43,13 @@ public class IdentityIdEntityTest {
 	}
 
 	@Test
+	@TestForIssue(jiraKey = "HHH-15561")
 	@ServiceRegistry(
 			settings = { @Setting( name = AvailableSettings.USE_GET_GENERATED_KEYS, value = "false") }
 	)
 	@DomainModel( annotatedClasses = { IdentityEntity.class } )
 	@SessionFactory
+	@RequiresDialect( value = H2Dialect.class )
 	public void testIdentityEntityWithDisabledGetGeneratedKeys(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
 		scope.inTransaction(
 				session -> {
@@ -64,11 +66,13 @@ public class IdentityIdEntityTest {
 	}
 
 	@Test
+	@TestForIssue(jiraKey = "HHH-15561")
 	@ServiceRegistry(
 			settings = { @Setting( name = "use_jdbc_metadata_defaults", value = "false") }
 	)
 	@DomainModel( annotatedClasses = { IdentityEntity.class } )
 	@SessionFactory
+	@RequiresDialect( value = H2Dialect.class )
 	public void testIdentityEntityWithDisabledJdbcMetadataDefaults(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
 		scope.inTransaction(
 				session -> {
@@ -84,6 +88,30 @@ public class IdentityIdEntityTest {
 		);
 	}
 
+	@Test
+	@TestForIssue(jiraKey = "HHH-16418")
+	@ServiceRegistry(
+			settings = { @Setting( name = AvailableSettings.USE_GET_GENERATED_KEYS, value = "false") }
+	)
+	@DomainModel( annotatedClasses = { IdentityEntity.class } )
+	@SessionFactory
+	@RequiresDialect( value = OracleDialect.class, majorVersion = 12 )
+	public void testNullSelectIdentityString(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction(
+				session -> {
+					try {
+						IdentityEntity ie = new IdentityEntity();
+						ie.setTimestamp( new Date() );
+						session.persist( ie );
+						fail( "A HibernateException with message id HHH000515 should have been thrown" );
+					}
+					catch (Exception e) {
+						assertTrue( e.getMessage().startsWith( "HHH000515" ) );
+					}
+				}
+		);
+	}
+
 	@Entity(name = "id_entity")
 	public static class IdentityEntity {
 		@Id