diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/locking/EmbeddableWithManyToManyAndOptimistickLockingDeletionTest.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/locking/EmbeddableWithManyToManyAndOptimistickLockingDeletionTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..38ea8ef8fb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/locking/EmbeddableWithManyToManyAndOptimistickLockingDeletionTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+package org.hibernate.orm.test.locking;
+
+import java.util.Set;
+
+import org.hibernate.annotations.DynamicUpdate;
+import org.hibernate.annotations.OptimisticLockType;
+import org.hibernate.annotations.OptimisticLocking;
+
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.DomainModel;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.JiraKey;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.SessionFactory;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.SessionFactoryScope;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import jakarta.persistence.Cacheable;
+import jakarta.persistence.Column;
+import jakarta.persistence.Embeddable;
+import jakarta.persistence.Embedded;
+import jakarta.persistence.Entity;
+import jakarta.persistence.EnumType;
+import jakarta.persistence.Enumerated;
+import jakarta.persistence.Id;
+import jakarta.persistence.JoinColumn;
+import jakarta.persistence.JoinTable;
+import jakarta.persistence.ManyToMany;
+import jakarta.persistence.Table;
+
+import static jakarta.persistence.FetchType.LAZY;
+import static org.assertj.core.api.AssertionsForClassTypes.assertThat;
+import static org.hibernate.annotations.CacheConcurrencyStrategy.READ_WRITE;
+
+
+@DomainModel(
+		annotatedClasses = {
+				EmbeddableWithManyToManyAndOptimistickLockingDeletionTest.TagOperator.class,
+				EmbeddableWithManyToManyAndOptimistickLockingDeletionTest.Tag.class
+		}
+)
+@SessionFactory
+@JiraKey("HHH-16821")
+public class EmbeddableWithManyToManyAndOptimistickLockingDeletionTest {
+
+	private static final String TAG_OPERATOR_ID = "tagOperatorID";
+	@BeforeAll
+	public void setUp(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction(
+				session -> {
+					TagOperator operator = new TagOperator( TAG_OPERATOR_ID );
+					session.persist( operator );
+				}
+		);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testDelete(SessionFactoryScope scope){
+		scope.inTransaction(
+			session -> {
+				TagOperator tagOperator = session.find( TagOperator.class, TAG_OPERATOR_ID );
+				assertThat(tagOperator).isNotNull();
+
+				session.remove( tagOperator );
+			}
+		);
+	}
+
+	@Entity(name = "TagOperator")
+	@Table(name = "TAG_OPERATOR")
+	@OptimisticLocking(type = OptimisticLockType.DIRTY)
+	@DynamicUpdate
+	@Cacheable
+	public static class TagOperator {
+
+		public TagOperator() {
+		}
+
+		public TagOperator(String operatorId) {
+			this.operatorId = operatorId;
+			this.tagPolicy = new OperatorTagPolicy( Set.of(), PolicyType.ALL );
+		}
+
+		@Id
+		@Column(name = "OPERATOR_ID", nullable = false)
+		private String operatorId;
+
+		@Embedded
+		private OperatorTagPolicy tagPolicy;
+	}
+
+	@Embeddable
+	public static class OperatorTagPolicy {
+		@ManyToMany(fetch = LAZY)
+		@JoinTable(
+				name = "OPERATOR_TO_TAG",
+				joinColumns = {
+						@JoinColumn(name = "OPERATOR_ID", referencedColumnName = "OPERATOR_ID")
+				},
+				inverseJoinColumns = @JoinColumn(name = "TAG_NAME"))
+		@org.hibernate.annotations.Cache(usage = READ_WRITE)
+		Set<Tag> exceptions;
+
+		@Column(name = "TAG_POLICY_TYPE", nullable = false)
+		@Enumerated(EnumType.STRING)
+		PolicyType type;
+
+		public OperatorTagPolicy() {
+		}
+
+		public OperatorTagPolicy(Set<Tag> exceptions, PolicyType type) {
+			this.exceptions = exceptions;
+			this.type = type;
+		}
+
+		public Set<Tag> getExceptions() {
+			return exceptions;
+		}
+
+		public PolicyType getType() {
+			return type;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Entity(name = "Tag")
+	@Table(name = "TAG_TABLE")
+	public static class Tag {
+		@Id
+		@Column(name = "TAG_NAME", nullable = false)
+		private String name;
+
+		public Tag() {
+		}
+
+		public Tag(String name) {
+			this.name = name;
+		}
+
+		public String getName() {
+			return name;
+		}
+	}
+
+	public enum PolicyType {
+		ALL,
+		NONE
+	}
+}