diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/CatalystTypeConverters.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/CatalystTypeConverters.scala
index 2ec0ff53c89c..0af8ed9a7eab 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/CatalystTypeConverters.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/catalyst/CatalystTypeConverters.scala
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import scala.language.existentials
 import org.apache.spark.sql.Row
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util._
-import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
+import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{ArrayBasedMapData => _, _}
 import org.apache.spark.unsafe.types.UTF8String
 
 /**
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/ArrayType.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/ArrayType.scala
index 520e34436162..886461de8b74 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/ArrayType.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/ArrayType.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import scala.math.Ordering
 import org.json4s.JsonDSL._
 
 import org.apache.spark.annotation.DeveloperApi
-import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.ArrayData
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util
 
 object ArrayType extends AbstractDataType {
   /** Construct a [[ArrayType]] object with the given element type. The `containsNull` is true. */
@@ -87,7 +87,8 @@ case class ArrayType(elementType: DataType, containsNull: Boolean) extends DataT
   }
 
   @transient
-  private[sql] lazy val interpretedOrdering: Ordering[ArrayData] = new Ordering[ArrayData] {
+  private[sql] lazy val interpretedOrdering: Ordering[util.ArrayData]
+      = new Ordering[util.ArrayData] {
     private[this] val elementOrdering: Ordering[Any] = elementType match {
       case dt: AtomicType => dt.ordering.asInstanceOf[Ordering[Any]]
       case a : ArrayType => a.interpretedOrdering.asInstanceOf[Ordering[Any]]
@@ -96,7 +97,7 @@ case class ArrayType(elementType: DataType, containsNull: Boolean) extends DataT
         throw new IllegalArgumentException(s"Type $other does not support ordered operations")
     }
 
-    def compare(x: ArrayData, y: ArrayData): Int = {
+    def compare(x: util.ArrayData, y: util.ArrayData): Int = {
       val leftArray = x
       val rightArray = y
       val minLength = scala.math.min(leftArray.numElements(), rightArray.numElements())
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/StructType.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/StructType.scala
index 3bd733fa2d26..a42cd097208d 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/StructType.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/StructType.scala
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import org.json4s.JsonDSL._
 import org.apache.spark.SparkException
 import org.apache.spark.annotation.DeveloperApi
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.{Attribute, AttributeReference, InterpretedOrdering}
-import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.{DataTypeParser, LegacyTypeStringParser}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.LegacyTypeStringParser
 
 /**
  * :: DeveloperApi ::
diff --git a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/package.scala b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/package.scala
index 346a51ea10c8..779b8cdec311 100644
--- a/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/package.scala
+++ b/sql/catalyst/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/types/package.scala
@@ -21,4 +21,24 @@ package org.apache.spark.sql
  * Contains a type system for attributes produced by relations, including complex types like
  * structs, arrays and maps.
  */
-package object types
+package object types {
+
+  /* Aliases for backwards compatibility. See SPARK-11780. */
+  @deprecated("Moved to org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.ArrayBasedMapData", since = "1.6.0")
+  type ArrayBasedMapData = org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.ArrayBasedMapData
+  @deprecated("Moved to org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.ArrayBasedMapData", since = "1.6.0")
+  val ArrayBasedMapData = org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.ArrayBasedMapData
+  @deprecated("Moved to org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.ArrayData", since = "1.6.0")
+  type ArrayData = org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.ArrayData
+  @deprecated("Moved to org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.DataTypeException", since = "1.6.0")
+  type DataTypeException = org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.DataTypeException
+  @deprecated("Moved to org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.DataTypeParser", since = "1.6.0")
+  type DataTypeParser = org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.DataTypeParser
+  @deprecated("Moved to org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.DataTypeParser", since = "1.6.0")
+  val DataTypeParser = org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.DataTypeParser
+  @deprecated("Moved to org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.GenericArrayData", since = "1.6.0")
+  type GenericArrayData = org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.GenericArrayData
+  @deprecated("Moved to org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.MapData", since = "1.6.0")
+  type MapData = org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util.MapData
+
+}
diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/json/JacksonParser.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/json/JacksonParser.scala
index b2f5c1e96421..5c755ddcf9b1 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/json/JacksonParser.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/datasources/json/JacksonParser.scala
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.InternalRow
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.datasources.json.JacksonUtils.nextUntil
-import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
+import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{ArrayBasedMapData => _, _}
 import org.apache.spark.unsafe.types.UTF8String
 import org.apache.spark.util.Utils
 
diff --git a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveInspectors.scala b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveInspectors.scala
index 5d84feb483ea..62c783079014 100644
--- a/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveInspectors.scala
+++ b/sql/hive/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/hive/HiveInspectors.scala
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.InternalRow
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.util._
 import org.apache.spark.sql.types
-import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
+import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{ArrayBasedMapData => _, _}
 import org.apache.spark.unsafe.types.UTF8String
 
 /**