diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/mapping/internal/MappingModelCreationProcess.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/mapping/internal/MappingModelCreationProcess.java
index f28aac95f7..10160fe5dd 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/mapping/internal/MappingModelCreationProcess.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/mapping/internal/MappingModelCreationProcess.java
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import org.hibernate.metamodel.mapping.ForeignKeyDescriptor;
 import org.hibernate.metamodel.mapping.ModelPart;
 import org.hibernate.metamodel.mapping.NonTransientException;
 import org.hibernate.metamodel.model.domain.NavigableRole;
+import org.hibernate.metamodel.model.domain.internal.EntityPersisterConcurrentMap;
 import org.hibernate.metamodel.spi.RuntimeModelCreationContext;
 import org.hibernate.persister.entity.EntityPersister;
 import org.hibernate.query.sqm.function.SqmFunctionRegistry;
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ public class MappingModelCreationProcess {
 	 * Triggers creation of the mapping model
 	 */
 	public static void process(
-			Map<String,EntityPersister> entityPersisterMap,
+			EntityPersisterConcurrentMap entityPersisterMap,
 			RuntimeModelCreationContext creationContext) {
 		final MappingModelCreationProcess process = new MappingModelCreationProcess(
 				entityPersisterMap,
@@ -42,14 +43,14 @@ public class MappingModelCreationProcess {
 		process.execute();
 	}
 
-	private final Map<String,EntityPersister> entityPersisterMap;
+	private final EntityPersisterConcurrentMap entityPersisterMap;
 	private final RuntimeModelCreationContext creationContext;
 
 	private String currentlyProcessingRole;
 	private List<PostInitCallbackEntry> postInitCallbacks;
 
 	private MappingModelCreationProcess(
-			Map<String, EntityPersister> entityPersisterMap,
+			EntityPersisterConcurrentMap entityPersisterMap,
 			RuntimeModelCreationContext creationContext) {
 		this.entityPersisterMap = entityPersisterMap;
 		this.creationContext = creationContext;
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/model/domain/internal/EntityPersisterConcurrentMap.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/model/domain/internal/EntityPersisterConcurrentMap.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3a21edab98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/model/domain/internal/EntityPersisterConcurrentMap.java
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/*
+ * 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.metamodel.model.domain.internal;
+
+import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.Objects;
+import java.util.concurrent.ConcurrentHashMap;
+import java.util.stream.Collectors;
+
+import org.hibernate.persister.entity.EntityPersister;
+
+/**
+ * Concurrent Map implementation of mappings entity name -> EntityPersister.
+ * Concurrency is optimised for read operations; write operations will
+ * acquire a lock and are relatively costly: only use for long living,
+ * read-mostly use cases.
+ * This implementation attempts to avoid type pollution problems.
+ */
+public final class EntityPersisterConcurrentMap {
+
+	private final ConcurrentHashMap<String,EntityPersisterHolder> map = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+	private volatile EntityPersister[] values = new EntityPersister[0];
+	private volatile String[] keys = new String[0];
+
+	public EntityPersister get(final String name) {
+		final EntityPersisterHolder entityPersisterHolder = map.get( name );
+		if ( entityPersisterHolder != null ) {
+			return entityPersisterHolder.entityPersister;
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
+	public EntityPersister[] values() {
+		return values;
+	}
+
+	public synchronized void put(final String name, final EntityPersister entityPersister) {
+		map.put( name, new EntityPersisterHolder( entityPersister ) );
+		recomputeValues();
+	}
+
+	public synchronized void putIfAbsent(final String name, final EntityPersister entityPersister) {
+		map.putIfAbsent( name, new EntityPersisterHolder( entityPersister ) );
+		recomputeValues();
+	}
+
+	public boolean containsKey(final String name) {
+		return map.containsKey( name );
+	}
+
+	public String[] keys() {
+		return keys;
+	}
+
+	private void recomputeValues() {
+		//Assumption: the write lock is being held (synchronize on this)
+		final int size = map.size();
+		final EntityPersister[] newValues = new EntityPersister[size];
+		final String[] newKeys = new String[size];
+		int i = 0;
+		for ( Map.Entry<String, EntityPersisterHolder> e : map.entrySet() ) {
+			newValues[i] = e.getValue().entityPersister;
+			newKeys[i] = e.getKey();
+			i++;
+		}
+		this.values = newValues;
+		this.keys = newKeys;
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * @deprecated Higly inefficient - do not use; this exists
+	 * to support other deprecated methods and will be removed.
+	 */
+	@Deprecated(forRemoval = true)
+	public Map<String, EntityPersister> convertToMap() {
+		return map.entrySet().stream().collect( Collectors.toUnmodifiableMap(
+				Map.Entry::getKey,
+				e -> e.getValue().entityPersister
+		) );
+	}
+
+	/**
+	 * Implementation note: since EntityPersister is an highly used
+	 * interface, we intentionally avoid using a generic Map referring
+	 * to it to avoid type pollution.
+	 * Using a concrete holder class bypasses the problem, at a minimal
+	 * tradeoff of memory.
+	 */
+	private final static class EntityPersisterHolder {
+
+		private final EntityPersister entityPersister;
+
+		EntityPersisterHolder(final EntityPersister entityPersister) {
+			Objects.requireNonNull( entityPersister );
+			this.entityPersister = entityPersister;
+		}
+
+	}
+
+}
diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/model/domain/internal/MappingMetamodelImpl.java b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/model/domain/internal/MappingMetamodelImpl.java
index 80f06289bf..640d6aa7ec 100644
--- a/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/model/domain/internal/MappingMetamodelImpl.java
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/main/java/org/hibernate/metamodel/model/domain/internal/MappingMetamodelImpl.java
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ public class MappingMetamodelImpl extends QueryParameterBindingTypeResolverImpl
 	// ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 	// RuntimeModel
 
-	private final Map<String, EntityPersister> entityPersisterMap = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
+	private final EntityPersisterConcurrentMap entityPersisterMap = new EntityPersisterConcurrentMap();
 	private final Map<String, CollectionPersister> collectionPersisterMap = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
 	private final Map<String, Set<String>> collectionRolesByEntityParticipant = new ConcurrentHashMap<>();
 
@@ -375,12 +375,14 @@ public class MappingMetamodelImpl extends QueryParameterBindingTypeResolverImpl
 
 	@Override
 	public void forEachEntityDescriptor(Consumer<EntityPersister> action) {
-		entityPersisterMap.values().forEach( action );
+		for ( EntityPersister value : entityPersisterMap.values() ) {
+			action.accept( value );
+		}
 	}
 
 	@Override
 	public Stream<EntityPersister> streamEntityDescriptors() {
-		return entityPersisterMap.values().stream();
+		return Arrays.stream( entityPersisterMap.values() );
 	}
 
 	@Override
@@ -547,7 +549,7 @@ public class MappingMetamodelImpl extends QueryParameterBindingTypeResolverImpl
 
 	@Override @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
 	public Map<String, EntityPersister> entityPersisters() {
-		return entityPersisterMap;
+		return entityPersisterMap.convertToMap();
 	}
 
 	@Override @SuppressWarnings("deprecation")
@@ -634,7 +636,7 @@ public class MappingMetamodelImpl extends QueryParameterBindingTypeResolverImpl
 
 	@Override
 	public String[] getAllEntityNames() {
-		return ArrayHelper.toStringArray( entityPersisterMap.keySet() );
+		return entityPersisterMap.keys();
 	}
 
 	@Override