diff --git a/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lombok/LombokValToFinalVar.java b/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lombok/LombokValToFinalVar.java
index 3a6826373a..acc7f6e7ec 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lombok/LombokValToFinalVar.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lombok/LombokValToFinalVar.java
@@ -15,16 +15,15 @@
  */
 package org.openrewrite.java.migrate.lombok;
 
-import org.openrewrite.ExecutionContext;
-import org.openrewrite.Preconditions;
-import org.openrewrite.Recipe;
-import org.openrewrite.TreeVisitor;
+import org.openrewrite.*;
 import org.openrewrite.internal.ListUtils;
 import org.openrewrite.java.JavaIsoVisitor;
 import org.openrewrite.java.JavaTemplate;
 import org.openrewrite.java.search.MaybeUsesImport;
 import org.openrewrite.java.search.UsesType;
+import org.openrewrite.java.service.AnnotationService;
 import org.openrewrite.java.tree.J;
+import org.openrewrite.java.tree.TypeTree;
 import org.openrewrite.java.tree.TypeUtils;
 
 import java.time.Duration;
@@ -75,29 +74,32 @@ public J.CompilationUnit visitCompilationUnit(J.CompilationUnit compilationUnit,
         @Override
         public J.VariableDeclarations visitVariableDeclarations(J.VariableDeclarations mv, ExecutionContext ctx) {
             J.VariableDeclarations varDecls = super.visitVariableDeclarations(mv, ctx);
+
             if (TypeUtils.isOfClassType(varDecls.getType(), LOMBOK_VAL) ||
-                (varDecls.getTypeExpression() instanceof J.Identifier && ((J.Identifier) varDecls.getTypeExpression()).getSimpleName().equals("val"))) {
+                    (varDecls.getTypeExpression() instanceof J.Identifier && "val".equals(((J.Identifier) varDecls.getTypeExpression()).getSimpleName()))) {
                 maybeRemoveImport(LOMBOK_VAL);
 
                 J.VariableDeclarations.NamedVariable nv = mv.getVariables().get(0);
-                String finalVarVariableTemplateString;
-                Object[] args;
                 if (nv.getInitializer() == null) {
-                    finalVarVariableTemplateString = "final var #{}";
-                    args = new Object[]{nv.getSimpleName()};
-                } else {
-                    finalVarVariableTemplateString = "final var #{} = #{any()};";
-                    args = new Object[]{nv.getSimpleName(), nv.getInitializer()};
+                    // manually transform to var, as val in this case has no sufficient type information
+                    // and the java template parsing would fail, see https://github.com/openrewrite/rewrite/pull/5637
+                    TypeTree typeExpression = varDecls.getTypeExpression();
+                    J.Identifier varType = new J.Identifier(Tree.randomId(),
+                            typeExpression.getPrefix(),
+                            typeExpression.getMarkers(),
+                            service(AnnotationService.class).getAllAnnotations(getCursor()),
+                            "var",
+                            nv.getType(),
+                            null);
+                    return varDecls.withTypeExpression(varType);
                 }
-                varDecls = JavaTemplate.builder(finalVarVariableTemplateString)
+
+                varDecls = JavaTemplate.builder("final var #{} = #{any()};")
                         .contextSensitive()
                         .build()
-                        .apply(updateCursor(varDecls), varDecls.getCoordinates().replace(), args);
-
-                if (nv.getInitializer() != null) {
-                    varDecls = varDecls.withVariables(ListUtils.map(varDecls.getVariables(), namedVar -> namedVar
-                            .withInitializer(namedVar.getInitializer().withPrefix(nv.getInitializer().getPrefix()))));
-                }
+                        .apply(updateCursor(varDecls), varDecls.getCoordinates().replace(), nv.getSimpleName(), nv.getInitializer());
+                varDecls = varDecls.withVariables(ListUtils.map(varDecls.getVariables(), namedVar -> namedVar
+                        .withInitializer(namedVar.getInitializer().withPrefix(nv.getInitializer().getPrefix()))));
             }
             return varDecls;
         }
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lombok/LombokValToFinalVarTest.java b/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lombok/LombokValToFinalVarTest.java
index 2dc0d3df8b..680ff5157a 100755
--- a/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lombok/LombokValToFinalVarTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lombok/LombokValToFinalVarTest.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  */
 package org.openrewrite.java.migrate.lombok;
 
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Nested;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.openrewrite.DocumentExample;
 import org.openrewrite.java.JavaParser;
@@ -112,40 +113,108 @@ void bar() {
         );
     }
 
+    @Nested
     @SuppressWarnings({"StatementWithEmptyBody", "RedundantOperationOnEmptyContainer"})
-    @Test
-    void valInForEachStatement() {
-        //language=java
-        rewriteRun(
-          version(
-            java(
-              """
-                import lombok.val;
-                import java.util.List;
-                import java.util.ArrayList;
+    class ValInLoop {
+        @Test
+        void list() {
+            //language=java
+            rewriteRun(
+              version(
+                java(
+                  """
+                    import lombok.val;
 
-                class A {
-                    void bar() {
-                        List<String> lst = new ArrayList<>();
-                        for (val s : lst) {}
+                    import java.util.List;
+
+                    class A {
+                        void bar(List<String> lst) {
+                            for (val s : lst) {}
+                        }
                     }
-                }
-                """,
-              """
-                import java.util.List;
-                import java.util.ArrayList;
+                    """,
+                  """
+                    import java.util.List;
 
-                class A {
-                    void bar() {
-                        List<String> lst = new ArrayList<>();
-                        for (final var s : lst) {}
+                    class A {
+                        void bar(List<String> lst) {
+                            for (var s : lst) {}
+                        }
                     }
-                }
+                    """
+                ),
+                17
+              )
+            );
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        void array() {
+            //language=java
+            rewriteRun(
+              version(
+                java(
+                  """
+                    import lombok.val;
+                    import java.util.List;
+                    import java.util.ArrayList;
+
+                    class A {
+                        void bar(String[] lst) {
+                            for (val s : lst) {}
+                        }
+                    }
+                    """,
+                  """
+                    import java.util.List;
+                    import java.util.ArrayList;
+
+                    class A {
+                        void bar(String[] lst) {
+                            for (var s : lst) {}
+                        }
+                    }
+                    """
+                ),
+                17
+              )
+            );
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        void valuesFromMethod() {
+            //language=java
+            rewriteRun(
+              java(
                 """
-            ),
-            17
-          )
-        );
+                  interface Mapper {
+                      String[] getNamesList();
+                  }
+                  """
+              ),
+              version(
+                java(
+                  """
+                    import lombok.val;
+
+                    class A {
+                        void bar(Mapper mapper) {
+                            for (val s : mapper.getNamesList()) {}
+                        }
+                    }
+                    """,
+                  """
+                    class A {
+                        void bar(Mapper mapper) {
+                            for (var s : mapper.getNamesList()) {}
+                        }
+                    }
+                    """
+                ),
+                17
+              )
+            );
+        }
     }
 
     @Test