diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/mapping/collections/EmbeddedMapElementCollectionJoinTest.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/mapping/collections/EmbeddedMapElementCollectionJoinTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..b0a4eb334d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/mapping/collections/EmbeddedMapElementCollectionJoinTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,137 @@
+/*
+ * 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.orm.test.mapping.collections;
+
+import java.util.HashMap;
+import java.util.Map;
+
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.DomainModel;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.Jira;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.SessionFactory;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.SessionFactoryScope;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterAll;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeAll;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import jakarta.persistence.ElementCollection;
+import jakarta.persistence.Embeddable;
+import jakarta.persistence.Embedded;
+import jakarta.persistence.Entity;
+import jakarta.persistence.FetchType;
+import jakarta.persistence.GeneratedValue;
+import jakarta.persistence.Id;
+import jakarta.persistence.criteria.CriteriaBuilder;
+import jakarta.persistence.criteria.CriteriaQuery;
+import jakarta.persistence.criteria.Root;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
+/**
+ * @author Marco Belladelli
+ */
+@SessionFactory
+@DomainModel( annotatedClasses = {
+		EmbeddedMapElementCollectionJoinTest.ImageFile.class,
+		EmbeddedMapElementCollectionJoinTest.ImageKey.class,
+		EmbeddedMapElementCollectionJoinTest.ImagesEmbeddable.class,
+		EmbeddedMapElementCollectionJoinTest.TestEntity.class,
+} )
+@Jira( "https://hibernate.atlassian.net/browse/HHH-16540" )
+public class EmbeddedMapElementCollectionJoinTest {
+	@BeforeAll
+	public void setUp(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction( session -> {
+			final ImagesEmbeddable images = new ImagesEmbeddable();
+			images.getImagesMap().put( new ImageKey( 1 ), new ImageFile( "file_1" ) );
+			session.persist( new TestEntity( images ) );
+		} );
+	}
+
+	@AfterAll
+	public void tearDown(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction( session -> session.createMutationQuery( "delete from TestEntity" ).executeUpdate() );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testMapJoin(SessionFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction( session -> {
+			final CriteriaBuilder cb = session.getCriteriaBuilder();
+			final CriteriaQuery<ImageFile> cq = cb.createQuery( ImageFile.class );
+			final Root<TestEntity> root = cq.from( TestEntity.class );
+			final ImageFile result = session.createQuery(
+					cq.select( root.join( "images" ).joinMap( "imagesMap" ) )
+			).getSingleResult();
+			assertThat( result.getFileName() ).isEqualTo( "file_1" );
+		} );
+	}
+
+	@Embeddable
+	public static class ImageFile {
+		private String fileName;
+
+		public ImageFile() {
+		}
+
+		public ImageFile(String fileName) {
+			this.fileName = fileName;
+		}
+
+		public String getFileName() {
+			return fileName;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Embeddable
+	public static class ImageKey {
+		private int imageKey;
+
+		public ImageKey() {
+		}
+
+		public ImageKey(int imageKey) {
+			this.imageKey = imageKey;
+		}
+
+		public int getImageKey() {
+			return imageKey;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Embeddable
+	public static class ImagesEmbeddable {
+		@ElementCollection( fetch = FetchType.LAZY )
+		private Map<ImageKey, ImageFile> imagesMap = new HashMap<>();
+
+		public Map<ImageKey, ImageFile> getImagesMap() {
+			return imagesMap;
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Entity( name = "TestEntity" )
+	public static class TestEntity {
+		@Id
+		@GeneratedValue
+		private int id;
+		@Embedded
+		private ImagesEmbeddable images = new ImagesEmbeddable();
+
+		public TestEntity() {
+		}
+
+		public TestEntity(ImagesEmbeddable images) {
+			this.images = images;
+		}
+
+		public int getId() {
+			return id;
+		}
+
+		public ImagesEmbeddable getImages() {
+			return images;
+		}
+	}
+}