diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/convert/CustomConversions.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/convert/CustomConversions.java
index 56705848..bef04b59 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/convert/CustomConversions.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/convert/CustomConversions.java
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ public class CustomConversions {
       registerConversion(converter);
     }
 
-    simpleTypeHolder = new SimpleTypeHolder();
+    simpleTypeHolder = new SimpleTypeHolder(customSimpleTypes, true);
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/convert/MappingCouchbaseConverter.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/convert/MappingCouchbaseConverter.java
index 4ea9e60d..d599750d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/convert/MappingCouchbaseConverter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/convert/MappingCouchbaseConverter.java
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ public class MappingCouchbaseConverter extends AbstractCouchbaseConverter
         if (val == null || conversions.isSimpleType(val.getClass())) {
           writeSimpleInternal(val, target, simpleKey);
         } else if (val instanceof Collection || val.getClass().isArray()) {
-          target.put(simpleKey, writeCollectionInternal(asCollection(val), new CouchbaseList(), type.getMapValueType()));
+          target.put(simpleKey, writeCollectionInternal(asCollection(val), new CouchbaseList(conversions.getSimpleTypeHolder()), type.getMapValueType()));
         } else {
           CouchbaseDocument embeddedDoc = new CouchbaseDocument();
           TypeInformation<?> valueTypeInfo = type.isMap() ? type.getMapValueType() : ClassTypeInformation.OBJECT;
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ public class MappingCouchbaseConverter extends AbstractCouchbaseConverter
    * @return the created couchbase list.
    */
   private CouchbaseList createCollection(final Collection<?> collection, final CouchbasePersistentProperty prop) {
-    return writeCollectionInternal(collection, new CouchbaseList(), prop.getTypeInformation());
+    return writeCollectionInternal(collection, new CouchbaseList(conversions.getSimpleTypeHolder()), prop.getTypeInformation());
   }
 
   /**
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ public class MappingCouchbaseConverter extends AbstractCouchbaseConverter
       if (elementType == null || conversions.isSimpleType(elementType)) {
         target.put(element);
       } else if (element instanceof Collection || elementType.isArray()) {
-        target.put(writeCollectionInternal(asCollection(element), new CouchbaseList(), componentType));
+        target.put(writeCollectionInternal(asCollection(element), new CouchbaseList(conversions.getSimpleTypeHolder()), componentType));
       } else {
         CouchbaseDocument embeddedDoc = new CouchbaseDocument();
         writeInternal(element, embeddedDoc, componentType);
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/mapping/CouchbaseList.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/mapping/CouchbaseList.java
index 4a9a16d3..96c67f6a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/mapping/CouchbaseList.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/couchbase/core/mapping/CouchbaseList.java
@@ -54,12 +54,34 @@ public class CouchbaseList implements CouchbaseStorable {
    * @param initialPayload the initial data to store.
    */
   public CouchbaseList(final List<Object> initialPayload) {
-    payload = initialPayload;
+    this(initialPayload, null);
+  }
 
+  /**
+   * Create a new (empty) list with an existing {@link SimpleTypeHolder}.
+   *
+   * @param simpleTypeHolder context instance.
+   */
+  public CouchbaseList(final SimpleTypeHolder simpleTypeHolder) {
+    this(new ArrayList<Object>(), simpleTypeHolder);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Create a new list with a given payload on construction and an existing {@link SimpleTypeHolder}.
+   *
+   * @param initialPayload the initial data to store.
+   * @param simpleTypeHolder context instance.
+   */
+  public CouchbaseList(final List<Object> initialPayload, final SimpleTypeHolder simpleTypeHolder) {
+    this.payload = initialPayload;
     Set<Class<?>> additionalTypes = new HashSet<Class<?>>();
     additionalTypes.add(CouchbaseDocument.class);
     additionalTypes.add(CouchbaseList.class);
-    simpleTypeHolder = new SimpleTypeHolder(additionalTypes, true);
+    if (simpleTypeHolder != null) {
+        this.simpleTypeHolder = new SimpleTypeHolder(additionalTypes, simpleTypeHolder);
+    } else {
+        this.simpleTypeHolder = new SimpleTypeHolder(additionalTypes, true);
+    }
   }
 
   /**