diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/model/AbstractPersistentProperty.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/model/AbstractPersistentProperty.java
index fa3a9e692..b7361896b 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/model/AbstractPersistentProperty.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/model/AbstractPersistentProperty.java
@@ -436,9 +436,8 @@ public abstract class AbstractPersistentProperty<P extends PersistentProperty<P>
 
 	private Set<TypeInformation<?>> detectEntityTypes(SimpleTypeHolder simpleTypes) {
 
-		TypeInformation<?> typeToStartWith = ASSOCIATION_TYPE != null && ASSOCIATION_TYPE.isAssignableFrom(rawType)
-				? information.getComponentType()
-				: information;
+		TypeInformation<?> typeToStartWith = getAssociationTargetTypeInformation();
+		typeToStartWith = typeToStartWith == null ? information : typeToStartWith;
 
 		Set<TypeInformation<?>> result = detectEntityTypes(typeToStartWith);
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/model/AnnotationBasedPersistentPropertyUnitTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/model/AnnotationBasedPersistentPropertyUnitTests.java
index fa6dbe8e9..7b4a52a67 100755
--- a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/model/AnnotationBasedPersistentPropertyUnitTests.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mapping/model/AnnotationBasedPersistentPropertyUnitTests.java
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ import org.springframework.data.mapping.MappingException;
 import org.springframework.data.mapping.PersistentProperty;
 import org.springframework.data.mapping.context.SampleMappingContext;
 import org.springframework.data.mapping.context.SamplePersistentProperty;
+import org.springframework.data.util.ClassTypeInformation;
 import org.springframework.lang.Nullable;
 import org.springframework.test.util.ReflectionTestUtils;
 
@@ -318,6 +319,16 @@ public class AnnotationBasedPersistentPropertyUnitTests<P extends AnnotationBase
 		assertThat(property.getAssociationTargetType()).isEqualTo(JMoleculesAggregate.class);
 	}
 
+	@Test // GH-2409
+	void exposesAssociationTargetClassAsPersistentEntityType() {
+
+		SamplePersistentProperty property = getProperty(WithReferences.class, "toSample");
+
+		assertThat(property.getPersistentEntityTypeInformation()) //
+				.isNotEmpty() //
+				.allMatch(it -> it.equals(ClassTypeInformation.from(Sample.class)));
+	}
+
 	@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
 	private Map<Class<? extends Annotation>, Annotation> getAnnotationCache(SamplePersistentProperty property) {
 		return (Map<Class<? extends Annotation>, Annotation>) ReflectionTestUtils.getField(property, "annotationCache");