The core equivalent from JPA 1 is the following annotation: https://javaee.github.io/javaee-spec/javadocs/javax/persistence/MapKey.html P.S. But a few other "bells-and-whistles" have been added in JPA 2. E.g.: https://javaee.github.io/javaee-spec/javadocs/javax/persistence/MapKeyEnumerated.html P.P.S. It's also worth considering here whether to use the same annotation(s), or to add distinct one(s).