diff --git a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtils.java b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtils.java
index 2bb6481c49cb..c5afa2dd8b18 100644
--- a/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtils.java
+++ b/modules/openapi-generator/src/main/java/org/openapitools/codegen/utils/ModelUtils.java
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ public static Schema unaliasSchema(Map<String, Schema> allSchemas, Schema schema
             } else if (isStringSchema(ref) && (ref.getEnum() != null && !ref.getEnum().isEmpty())) {
                 // top-level enum class
                 return schema;
-            } else if (isMapSchema(ref) || isArraySchema(ref)) { // map/array def should be created as models
+            } else if (isMapSchema(ref) || isArraySchema(ref) || isComposedSchema(ref)) { // map/array def should be created as models
                 return schema;
             } else {
                 return unaliasSchema(allSchemas, allSchemas.get(ModelUtils.getSimpleRef(schema.get$ref())));