diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/CodegenProperty.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/CodegenProperty.java
index 2b36fd5a2275..16edb14adf87 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/CodegenProperty.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/CodegenProperty.java
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ public class CodegenProperty implements Cloneable {
     public boolean isWriteOnly;
     public boolean isNullable;
     public boolean isSelfReference;
+    public boolean isCircularReference;
     public List<String> _enum;
     public Map<String, Object> allowableValues;
     public CodegenProperty items;
@@ -498,6 +499,7 @@ public String toString() {
         sb.append(", isWriteOnly=").append(isWriteOnly);
         sb.append(", isNullable=").append(isNullable);
         sb.append(", isSelfReference=").append(isSelfReference);
+        sb.append(", isCircularReference=").append(isCircularReference);
         sb.append(", _enum=").append(_enum);
         sb.append(", allowableValues=").append(allowableValues);
         sb.append(", items=").append(items);
@@ -558,6 +560,7 @@ public boolean equals(Object o) {
                 isWriteOnly == that.isWriteOnly &&
                 isNullable == that.isNullable &&
                 isSelfReference == that.isSelfReference &&
+                isCircularReference == that.isCircularReference &&
                 hasValidation == that.hasValidation &&
                 isInherited == that.isInherited &&
                 isXmlAttribute == that.isXmlAttribute &&
@@ -613,8 +616,9 @@ public int hashCode() {
                 hasMoreNonReadOnly, isPrimitiveType, isModel, isContainer, isString, isNumeric, isInteger,
                 isLong, isNumber, isFloat, isDouble, isByteArray, isBinary, isFile, isBoolean, isDate, isDateTime,
                 isUuid, isUri, isEmail, isFreeFormObject, isListContainer, isMapContainer, isEnum, isReadOnly,
-                isWriteOnly, isNullable, isSelfReference, _enum, allowableValues, items, mostInnerItems,
-                vendorExtensions, hasValidation, isInherited, discriminatorValue, nameInCamelCase, nameInSnakeCase,
-                enumName, maxItems, minItems, isXmlAttribute, xmlPrefix, xmlName, xmlNamespace, isXmlWrapped);
+                isWriteOnly, isNullable, isSelfReference, isCircularReference, _enum, allowableValues, items,
+                mostInnerItems, vendorExtensions, hasValidation, isInherited, discriminatorValue, nameInCamelCase,
+                nameInSnakeCase, enumName, maxItems, minItems, isXmlAttribute, xmlPrefix, xmlName, xmlNamespace,
+                isXmlWrapped);
     }
 }
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/DefaultCodegen.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/DefaultCodegen.java
index 1099af7cd498..f35967ea2e99 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/DefaultCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/DefaultCodegen.java
@@ -328,10 +328,61 @@ public Map<String, Object> updateAllModels(Map<String, Object> objs) {
                 }
             }
         }
+        setCircularReferences(allModels);
 
         return objs;
     }
 
+    public void setCircularReferences(Map<String, CodegenModel> models) {
+        final Map<String, List<CodegenProperty>> dependencyMap = models.entrySet().stream()
+            .collect(Collectors.toMap(Entry::getKey, entry -> getModelDependencies(entry.getValue())));
+        
+        models.keySet().forEach(name -> setCircularReferencesOnProperties(name, dependencyMap));
+    }
+
+    private List<CodegenProperty> getModelDependencies(CodegenModel model) {
+        return model.getAllVars().stream()
+            .map(prop -> {
+                if (prop.isContainer) {
+                    return prop.items.dataType == null ? null : prop;
+                }
+                return prop.dataType == null ? null : prop;
+            })
+            .filter(prop -> prop != null)
+            .collect(Collectors.toList());
+    }
+
+    private void setCircularReferencesOnProperties(final String root,
+                                                   final Map<String, List<CodegenProperty>> dependencyMap) {
+        dependencyMap.getOrDefault(root, new ArrayList<>()).stream()
+            .forEach(prop -> {
+                final List<String> unvisited =
+                    Collections.singletonList(prop.isContainer ? prop.items.dataType : prop.dataType);
+                prop.isCircularReference = isCircularReference(root,
+                                                               new HashSet<>(),
+                                                               new ArrayList<>(unvisited),
+                                                               dependencyMap);
+            });
+    }
+
+    private boolean isCircularReference(final String root,
+                                        final Set<String> visited,
+                                        final List<String> unvisited,
+                                        final Map<String, List<CodegenProperty>> dependencyMap) {
+        for (int i = 0; i < unvisited.size(); i++) {
+            final String next = unvisited.get(i);
+            if (!visited.contains(next)) {
+                if (next.equals(root)) {
+                    return true;
+                }
+                dependencyMap.getOrDefault(next, new ArrayList<>())
+                    .forEach(prop -> unvisited.add(prop.isContainer ? prop.items.dataType : prop.dataType));
+                visited.add(next);
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
+
     // override with any special post-processing
     @SuppressWarnings("static-method")
     public Map<String, Object> postProcessModels(Map<String, Object> objs) {
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/ElmClientCodegen.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/ElmClientCodegen.java
index d192dd80010f..15bfcb010365 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/ElmClientCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/ElmClientCodegen.java
@@ -347,6 +347,7 @@ public int compare(CodegenModel cm1, CodegenModel cm2) {
                 });
             }
         }
+        setCircularReferences(allModels);
         for (Map.Entry<String, Object> entry : objs.entrySet()) {
             Map<String, Object> inner = (Map<String, Object>) entry.getValue();
             List<Map<String, Object>> models = (List<Map<String, Object>>) inner.get("models");
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/DefaultCodegenTest.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/DefaultCodegenTest.java
index 41e83880097d..0f25bf02e8c7 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/DefaultCodegenTest.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/java/org/openapitools/codegen/DefaultCodegenTest.java
@@ -1113,4 +1113,55 @@ public void testConvertPropertyToBooleanAndWriteBack_String_blibb() {
             Assert.assertFalse(result);
         }
     }
+
+    @Test
+    public void testCircularReferencesDetection() {
+        // given
+        DefaultCodegen codegen = new DefaultCodegen();
+        final CodegenProperty inboundOut = new CodegenProperty();
+        inboundOut.baseName = "out";
+        inboundOut.dataType = "RoundA";
+        final CodegenProperty roundANext = new CodegenProperty();
+        roundANext.baseName = "next";
+        roundANext.dataType = "RoundB";
+        final CodegenProperty roundBNext = new CodegenProperty();
+        roundBNext.baseName = "next";
+        roundBNext.dataType = "RoundC";
+        final CodegenProperty roundCNext = new CodegenProperty();
+        roundCNext.baseName = "next";
+        roundCNext.dataType = "RoundA";
+        final CodegenProperty roundCOut = new CodegenProperty();
+        roundCOut.baseName = "out";
+        roundCOut.dataType = "Outbound";
+        final CodegenModel inboundModel = new CodegenModel();
+        inboundModel.setDataType("Inbound");
+        inboundModel.setAllVars(Collections.singletonList(inboundOut));
+        final CodegenModel roundAModel = new CodegenModel();
+        roundAModel.setDataType("RoundA");
+        roundAModel.setAllVars(Collections.singletonList(roundANext));
+        final CodegenModel roundBModel = new CodegenModel();
+        roundBModel.setDataType("RoundB");
+        roundBModel.setAllVars(Collections.singletonList(roundBNext));
+        final CodegenModel roundCModel = new CodegenModel();
+        roundCModel.setDataType("RoundC");
+        roundCModel.setAllVars(Arrays.asList(roundCNext, roundCOut));
+        final CodegenModel outboundModel = new CodegenModel();
+        outboundModel.setDataType("Outbound");
+        final Map<String, CodegenModel> models = new HashMap<>();
+        models.put("Inbound", inboundModel);
+        models.put("RoundA", roundAModel);
+        models.put("RoundB", roundBModel);
+        models.put("RoundC", roundCModel);
+        models.put("Outbound", outboundModel);
+
+        // when
+        codegen.setCircularReferences(models);
+
+        // then
+        Assert.assertFalse(inboundOut.isCircularReference);
+        Assert.assertTrue(roundANext.isCircularReference);
+        Assert.assertTrue(roundBNext.isCircularReference);
+        Assert.assertTrue(roundCNext.isCircularReference);
+        Assert.assertFalse(roundCOut.isCircularReference);
+    }
 }
diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/resources/3_0/recursion.yaml b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/resources/3_0/recursion.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..dafd73e88723
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/test/resources/3_0/recursion.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+openapi: 3.0.0
+info:
+  description: Test
+  version: 1.0.0
+  title: OpenAPI
+paths:
+  /foo:
+    post:
+      description: ''
+      responses:
+        '200':
+          description: Response
+          content:
+            application/json:
+              schema:
+                $ref: '#/components/schemas/Foo'
+components:
+  schemas:
+    Foo:
+      type: object
+      properties:
+        foo:
+          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Foo'
+    Bar:
+      type: object
+      properties:
+        baz:
+          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Baz'
+    Baz:
+      type: object
+      properties:
+        bar:
+          $ref: '#/components/schemas/Bar'