diff --git a/orm/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/internal/reveng/util/EnhancedComponent.java b/orm/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/internal/reveng/util/EnhancedComponent.java
index 1e87499407..e4d5aa03a0 100644
--- a/orm/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/internal/reveng/util/EnhancedComponent.java
+++ b/orm/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/internal/reveng/util/EnhancedComponent.java
@@ -38,4 +38,11 @@ public String getIdentifierGeneratorStrategy() {
 		return genStrategy;
 	}
 
+	@Override
+	public Class<?> getComponentClass() throws MappingException {
+		// we prevent ORM from trying to load a component class by name,
+		// since at the point when we are building these, a corresponding class is not yet created
+		// (so can't even think about it being compiled and able to load via any classloader) ...
+		return Object.class;
+	}
 }
diff --git a/test/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/hbx2840/TestCase.java b/test/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/hbx2840/TestCase.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..4ce16a0420
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/hbx2840/TestCase.java
@@ -0,0 +1,71 @@
+/*
+ * Hibernate Tools, Tooling for your Hibernate Projects
+ *
+ * Copyright 2004-2021 Red Hat, Inc.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL),
+ * version 2.1 or later (the "License").
+ * You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may read the licence in the 'lgpl.txt' file in the root folder of
+ * project or obtain a copy at
+ *
+ *     http://www.gnu.org/licenses/lgpl-2.1.html
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" basis,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.hibernate.tool.hbm2x.hbx2840;
+
+import java.io.File;
+
+import org.hibernate.tool.api.export.Exporter;
+import org.hibernate.tool.api.export.ExporterConstants;
+import org.hibernate.tool.api.export.ExporterFactory;
+import org.hibernate.tool.api.export.ExporterType;
+import org.hibernate.tool.api.metadata.MetadataDescriptorFactory;
+import org.hibernate.tools.test.util.JUnitUtil;
+import org.hibernate.tools.test.util.JdbcUtil;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.io.TempDir;
+
+/**
+ * Test verifies that a foreign key to a table with a composite ID works.
+ */
+public class TestCase {
+
+	@TempDir
+	public File outputDir = new File( "output" );
+
+	@BeforeEach
+	void setUp() {
+		JdbcUtil.createDatabase( this );
+		Exporter exporter = ExporterFactory.createExporter( ExporterType.JAVA );
+		exporter.getProperties().put(
+				ExporterConstants.METADATA_DESCRIPTOR,
+				MetadataDescriptorFactory.createReverseEngineeringDescriptor( null, null )
+		);
+		exporter.getProperties().put( ExporterConstants.DESTINATION_FOLDER, outputDir );
+		exporter.getProperties().put( ExporterConstants.TEMPLATE_PATH, new String[0] );
+		exporter.getProperties().setProperty( "ejb3", "true" );
+		exporter.start();
+	}
+
+	@AfterEach
+	void tearDown() {
+		JdbcUtil.dropDatabase( this );
+	}
+
+	@Test
+	void testFileExistence() {
+		JUnitUtil.assertIsNonEmptyFile( new File( outputDir.getAbsolutePath() + "/Parent.java" ) );
+		JUnitUtil.assertIsNonEmptyFile( new File( outputDir.getAbsolutePath() + "/Child.java" ) );
+		JUnitUtil.assertIsNonEmptyFile( new File( outputDir.getAbsolutePath() + "/ParentId.java" ) );
+		JUnitUtil.assertIsNonEmptyFile( new File( outputDir.getAbsolutePath() + "/ChildId.java" ) );
+	}
+}
diff --git a/test/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/test/db/DbTestSuite.java b/test/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/test/db/DbTestSuite.java
index c3d24bb19e..d9ef06619b 100644
--- a/test/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/test/db/DbTestSuite.java
+++ b/test/common/src/main/java/org/hibernate/tool/test/db/DbTestSuite.java
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ public class DbTestSuite {
 	@Nested public class GenerateFromJDBCWithJavaKeyword extends org.hibernate.tool.hbm2x.GenerateFromJDBCWithJavaKeyword.TestCase {}
 	@Nested public class IncrementalSchemaReading extends org.hibernate.tool.hbm2x.IncrementalSchemaReading.TestCase {}
 	@Nested public class JdbcHbm2JavaEjb3 extends org.hibernate.tool.hbm2x.JdbcHbm2JavaEjb3.TestCase {}
+	@Nested public class HBX2840 extends org.hibernate.tool.hbm2x.hbx2840.TestCase {}
 	@Nested public class QueryExporterTest extends org.hibernate.tool.hbm2x.query.QueryExporterTest.TestCase {}
 	@Nested public class HbmLintTest extends org.hibernate.tool.hbmlint.HbmLintTest.TestCase {}
 	@Nested public class SchemaAnalyzer extends org.hibernate.tool.hbmlint.SchemaAnalyzer.TestCase {}
diff --git a/test/common/src/main/resources/org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/hbx2840/create.sql b/test/common/src/main/resources/org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/hbx2840/create.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..dfa89c5a98
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/common/src/main/resources/org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/hbx2840/create.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+CREATE TABLE PARENT(ID1_1 INT NOT NULL, ID1_2 INT NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY (ID1_1, ID1_2));
+CREATE TABLE CHILD (ID2_1 INT NOT NULL, ID2_2 INT NOT NULL, PRIMARY KEY (ID2_1, ID2_2), FOREIGN KEY (ID2_1, ID2_2) REFERENCES PARENT (ID1_1, ID1_2));
diff --git a/test/common/src/main/resources/org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/hbx2840/drop.sql b/test/common/src/main/resources/org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/hbx2840/drop.sql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..6136bd4e90
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/common/src/main/resources/org/hibernate/tool/hbm2x/hbx2840/drop.sql
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+DROP TABLE CHILD
+DROP TABLE PARENT