In the following query select distinct alert.id from Alert as alert where alert.id in (select a.id from Alert a join a.clientImpacts as i where i.clientId like ?) the HQL console marks the "i.clientId" property red with a tooltip on hover stating "cannot resolve expression". The mappings do indeed specify that property: <class name="Alert" table="Alerts"> <id name="id" column="AlertId" type="integer"> <generator class="native"/> </id> <property name="actionLog" column="ActionLog" type="text"/> [...] <list name="clientImpacts" table="ClientImpacts"> <key column="AlertId"/> <index column="clientImpactIndex"/> <composite-element class="ClientImpact"> <property name="clientId" column="ClientId" type="string" not-null="true" length="64"/> <many-to-one name="serviceType" column="ServiceTypeId" class="ServiceType"/> <property name="value" column="ImpactValue" type="double"/> <many-to-one name="impactType" column="ImpactTypeId" class="ImpactType"/> </composite-element> </list> </class> [...] The HQL console itself correctly translates the query to SQL when asked: > select distinct alert.id from Alert as alert where alert.id in (select a.id from Alert a join a.clientImpacts as i where i.clientId like ?) SQL #1 types: integer ----------------- select distinct alert0_.AlertId as col_0_0_ from Alerts alert0_ where alert0_.AlertId in ( select alert1_.AlertId from Alerts alert1_ inner join ClientImpacts clientimpa2_ on alert1_.AlertId=clientimpa2_.AlertId where clientimpa2_.ClientId like ? )