diff --git a/core/src/utils/overlays.ts b/core/src/utils/overlays.ts
index 925fa8bf1b8..13b83b913e7 100644
--- a/core/src/utils/overlays.ts
+++ b/core/src/utils/overlays.ts
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import { ActionSheet } from '../components/action-sheet/action-sheet';
 import { Alert } from '../components/alert/alert';
 import { Loading } from '../components/loading/loading';
 import { Modal } from '../components/modal/modal';
+import { PickerColumnCmp } from '../components/picker-column/picker-column';
 import { Picker } from '../components/picker/picker';
 import { Popover } from '../components/popover/popover';
 import { Toast } from '../components/toast/toast';
@@ -16,10 +17,15 @@ let lastId = 0;
 
 export const activeAnimations = new WeakMap<OverlayInterface, Animation[]>();
 
-const createController = <Opts extends object, HTMLElm extends any>(tagName: string, customElement?: any) => {
+type ChildCustomElementDefinition = {
+  tagName: string;
+  customElement: any;
+}
+
+const createController = <Opts extends object, HTMLElm extends any>(tagName: string, customElement?: any, childrenCustomElements?: ChildCustomElementDefinition[]) => {
   return {
     create(options: Opts): Promise<HTMLElm> {
-      return createOverlay(tagName, options, customElement) as any;
+      return createOverlay(tagName, options, customElement, childrenCustomElements) as any;
     },
     dismiss(data?: any, role?: string, id?: string) {
       return dismissOverlay(document, data, role, tagName, id);
@@ -34,7 +40,7 @@ export const alertController = /*@__PURE__*/createController<AlertOptions, HTMLI
 export const actionSheetController = /*@__PURE__*/createController<ActionSheetOptions, HTMLIonActionSheetElement>('ion-action-sheet', ActionSheet);
 export const loadingController = /*@__PURE__*/createController<LoadingOptions, HTMLIonLoadingElement>('ion-loading', Loading);
 export const modalController = /*@__PURE__*/createController<ModalOptions, HTMLIonModalElement>('ion-modal', Modal);
-export const pickerController = /*@__PURE__*/createController<PickerOptions, HTMLIonPickerElement>('ion-picker', Picker);
+export const pickerController = /*@__PURE__*/createController<PickerOptions, HTMLIonPickerElement>('ion-picker', Picker, [{ tagName: 'ion-picker-column', customElement: PickerColumnCmp }]);
 export const popoverController = /*@__PURE__*/createController<PopoverOptions, HTMLIonPopoverElement>('ion-popover', Popover);
 export const toastController = /*@__PURE__*/createController<ToastOptions, HTMLIonToastElement>('ion-toast', Toast);
 
@@ -50,15 +56,24 @@ export const prepareOverlay = <T extends HTMLIonOverlayElement>(el: T) => {
   }
 };
 
-export const createOverlay = <T extends HTMLIonOverlayElement>(tagName: string, opts: object | undefined, customElement?: any): Promise<T> => {
+export const createOverlay = <T extends HTMLIonOverlayElement>(tagName: string, opts: object | undefined, customElement?: any, childrenCustomElements?: ChildCustomElementDefinition[]): Promise<T> => {
   /* tslint:disable-next-line */
   if (typeof window.customElements !== 'undefined') {
-    if (
-      typeof (window as any) !== 'undefined' &&
-      window.customElements &&
-      !window.customElements.get(tagName)
-    ) {
-      window.customElements.define(tagName, customElement);
+    if (typeof (window as any) !== 'undefined' && window.customElements) {
+      if (!window.customElements.get(tagName)) {
+        window.customElements.define(tagName, customElement);
+      }
+      /**
+       * If the parent element has nested usage of custom elements,
+       * we need to manually define those custom elements.
+       */
+      if (childrenCustomElements) {
+        for (const customElementDefinition of childrenCustomElements) {
+          if (!window.customElements.get(customElementDefinition.tagName)) {
+            window.customElements.define(customElementDefinition.tagName, customElementDefinition.customElement);
+          }
+        }
+      }
     }
 
     return window.customElements.whenDefined(tagName).then(() => {