diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/PropertyPath.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/PropertyPath.java
index 920488699..7596792ed 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/PropertyPath.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/PropertyPath.java
@@ -132,6 +132,15 @@ public class PropertyPath implements Streamable<PropertyPath> {
 		return result;
 	}
 
+	/**
+	 * Returns the type of the leaf property of the current {@link PropertyPath}.
+	 * 
+	 * @return will never be {@literal null}.
+	 */
+	public Class<?> getLeafType() {
+		return getLeafProperty().getType();
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * Returns the type of the property will return the plain resolved type for simple properties, the component type for
 	 * any {@link Iterable} or the value type of a {@link java.util.Map} if the property is one.
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/PropertyPathUnitTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/PropertyPathUnitTests.java
index 427de3510..c9653e288 100755
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/PropertyPathUnitTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/PropertyPathUnitTests.java
@@ -350,6 +350,11 @@ public class PropertyPathUnitTests {
 		assertThat(from("userName", Foo.class)).isSameAs(from("userName", Foo.class));
 	}
 
+	@Test // DATACMNS-1198
+	public void exposesLeafPropertyType() {
+		assertThat(from("user.name", Bar.class).getLeafType()).isEqualTo(String.class);
+	}
+
 	private class Foo {
 
 		String userName;