diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractJavaCodegen.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractJavaCodegen.java
index 49823e19f8fd..bbf9a3004ac6 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractJavaCodegen.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/languages/AbstractJavaCodegen.java
@@ -798,7 +798,7 @@ public String toDefaultValue(Schema schema) {
 
             Schema<?> items = getSchemaItems((ArraySchema) schema);
 
-            String typeDeclaration = getTypeDeclaration(items);
+            String typeDeclaration = getTypeDeclaration(ModelUtils.unaliasSchema(this.openAPI, items));
             Object java8obj = additionalProperties.get("java8");
             if (java8obj != null) {
                 Boolean java8 = Boolean.valueOf(java8obj.toString());