diff --git a/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/query/naturalid/PersistEntityWithProxyAssociationTest.java b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/query/naturalid/PersistEntityWithProxyAssociationTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..129086db88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hibernate-core/src/test/java/org/hibernate/orm/test/query/naturalid/PersistEntityWithProxyAssociationTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,146 @@
+package org.hibernate.orm.test.query.naturalid;
+
+import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.hibernate.annotations.NaturalId;
+
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.EntityManagerFactoryScope;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.JiraKey;
+import org.hibernate.testing.orm.junit.Jpa;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import jakarta.persistence.Column;
+import jakarta.persistence.ElementCollection;
+import jakarta.persistence.Embeddable;
+import jakarta.persistence.Entity;
+import jakarta.persistence.FetchType;
+import jakarta.persistence.Id;
+import jakarta.persistence.JoinColumn;
+import jakarta.persistence.JoinTable;
+import jakarta.persistence.ManyToOne;
+import jakarta.persistence.Table;
+
+@Jpa(
+		annotatedClasses = {
+				PersistEntityWithProxyAssociationTest.Currency.class,
+				PersistEntityWithProxyAssociationTest.Position.class,
+		}
+)
+@JiraKey("HHH-18147")
+public class PersistEntityWithProxyAssociationTest {
+
+	public static final long CURRENCY_ID = 1l;
+
+	@BeforeEach
+	public void setUp(EntityManagerFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction(
+				entityManager ->
+						entityManager.persist( new Currency( CURRENCY_ID, "USD" ) )
+		);
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	public void testPersistDoesNotThrowConstraintViolationException(EntityManagerFactoryScope scope) {
+		scope.inTransaction(
+				entityManager -> {
+					// using getReference to obtain a Proxy
+					Currency currency = entityManager.getReference( Currency.class, CURRENCY_ID );
+					List<Holding> holdings = new ArrayList<>();
+					holdings.add( new Holding( 20, currency ) );
+
+					// Position#currency proxy has to be initialized in order to get its code
+					// and insert it into POSITION_HOLDING table
+					entityManager.persist( new Position( 10l, holdings ) );
+				}
+		);
+	}
+
+	@Entity
+	@Table(name = "CURRENCY_TABLE")
+	public static class Currency {
+		@Id
+		private Long id;
+
+		@NaturalId
+		private String code;
+
+		public Currency() {
+		}
+
+		public Currency(Long id, String code) {
+			this.id = id;
+			this.code = code;
+		}
+
+		public String getCode() {
+			return code;
+		}
+	}
+
+
+	@Entity
+	@Table(name = "POSITION_TABLE")
+	public static class Position {
+		@Id
+		private Long id;
+
+		private boolean active;
+
+		@ElementCollection
+		@JoinTable(name = "POSITION_HOLDING", joinColumns = { @JoinColumn(name = "POSITION_ID") })
+		private List<Holding> holdings = new ArrayList<>();
+
+		public Position() {
+		}
+
+		public Position(Long id) {
+			this.id = id;
+		}
+
+		public Position(Long id, List<Holding> holdings) {
+			this.id = id;
+			this.holdings = holdings;
+		}
+
+		public Long getId() {
+			return id;
+		}
+
+		public List<Holding> getHoldings() {
+			return holdings;
+		}
+
+		public void addHolding(Holding holding) {
+			holdings.add( holding );
+		}
+	}
+
+	@Embeddable
+	public static class Holding {
+		@Column(nullable = false)
+		private Integer quantity;
+
+		@ManyToOne(optional = false, fetch = FetchType.LAZY)
+		@JoinColumn(referencedColumnName = "code", nullable = false)
+		private Currency currency;
+
+		public Holding() {
+		}
+
+		public Holding(Integer quantity, Currency currency) {
+			this.quantity = quantity;
+			this.currency = currency;
+		}
+
+		public Integer getQuantity() {
+			return quantity;
+		}
+
+		public Currency getCurrency() {
+			return currency;
+		}
+	}
+
+}