diff --git a/validation/src/main/java/io/micronaut/validation/exceptions/ConstraintExceptionHandler.java b/validation/src/main/java/io/micronaut/validation/exceptions/ConstraintExceptionHandler.java
index 3a197bcd..178b81d6 100644
--- a/validation/src/main/java/io/micronaut/validation/exceptions/ConstraintExceptionHandler.java
+++ b/validation/src/main/java/io/micronaut/validation/exceptions/ConstraintExceptionHandler.java
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@ protected String buildMessage(ConstraintViolation<?> violation) {
                 }
                 message.append(']');
             }
-            if (node.getKind() != ElementKind.CONTAINER_ELEMENT) {
+            if (node.getKind() != ElementKind.CONTAINER_ELEMENT && node.getName() != null) {
                 if (!firstNode) {
                     message.append('.');
                 }
diff --git a/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/Pojo.java b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/Pojo.java
index 9d5c874f..50e8f326 100644
--- a/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/Pojo.java
+++ b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/Pojo.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import jakarta.validation.constraints.Email;
 import jakarta.validation.constraints.NotBlank;
 
+@ValidPojo
 @Introspected
 public class Pojo {
 
diff --git a/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/PojoValidator.java b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/PojoValidator.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3000e0d4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/PojoValidator.java
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+package io.micronaut.validation;
+
+import java.util.Objects;
+import jakarta.inject.Singleton;
+
+import io.micronaut.core.annotation.AnnotationValue;
+import io.micronaut.core.annotation.Introspected;
+import io.micronaut.validation.validator.constraints.ConstraintValidator;
+import io.micronaut.validation.validator.constraints.ConstraintValidatorContext;
+
+@Singleton
+@Introspected
+public class PojoValidator implements ConstraintValidator<ValidPojo, Pojo> {
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean isValid(Pojo pojo, AnnotationValue<ValidPojo> annotationMetadata,
+                           ConstraintValidatorContext context) {
+        if (Objects.equals(pojo.getEmail(), pojo.getName())) {
+            context.messageTemplate("Email and Name can not be identical");
+            return false;
+        }
+
+        return true;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/ValidPojo.java b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/ValidPojo.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..690013c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/ValidPojo.java
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+package io.micronaut.validation;
+
+import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.TYPE;
+import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+import jakarta.validation.Constraint;
+
+/**
+ * Simple annotation to validate behavior when adding validation annotation at class level
+ */
+@Documented
+@Target(TYPE)
+@Retention(RUNTIME)
+@Constraint(validatedBy = {PojoValidator.class})
+public @interface ValidPojo {
+}
diff --git a/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/ValidatedSpec.groovy b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/ValidatedSpec.groovy
index f1efc7b0..cdef4fc5 100644
--- a/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/ValidatedSpec.groovy
+++ b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/ValidatedSpec.groovy
@@ -212,6 +212,36 @@ class ValidatedSpec extends Specification {
         server.close()
     }
 
+    def "test validated controller validates @Valid classes with validation annotation set on class"() {
+        given:
+        ApplicationContext context = ApplicationContext.run([
+                'spec.name': getClass().simpleName
+        ])
+        EmbeddedServer embeddedServer = context.getBean(EmbeddedServer).start()
+        HttpClient client = context.createBean(HttpClient, embeddedServer.getURL())
+        EmbeddedServer server = ApplicationContext.run(EmbeddedServer)
+
+        when:
+        HttpResponse<String> response = client.toBlocking().exchange(
+                HttpRequest.POST("/validated/pojo", '{"email":"test@example.com","name":"test@example.com"}')
+                        .contentType(MediaType.APPLICATION_JSON_TYPE),
+                String
+        )
+
+        then:
+        def e = thrown(HttpClientResponseException)
+        e.response.code() == HttpStatus.BAD_REQUEST.code
+
+        when:
+        def result = new JsonSlurper().parseText((String) e.response.getBody().get())
+
+        then:
+        result._embedded.errors[0].message == 'pojo: Email and Name can not be identical'
+
+        cleanup:
+        server.close()
+    }
+
     def "test validated controller validates @Valid classes with standard embedded errors"() {
         given:
         ApplicationContext context = ApplicationContext.run([
diff --git a/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/validator/pojo/PojoValidatorSpec.groovy b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/validator/pojo/PojoValidatorSpec.groovy
index c50f0846..283f3f04 100644
--- a/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/validator/pojo/PojoValidatorSpec.groovy
+++ b/validation/src/test/groovy/io/micronaut/validation/validator/pojo/PojoValidatorSpec.groovy
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ class PojoValidatorSpec extends Specification {
 
         then:
         ex = thrown(ConstraintViolationException)
-        ex.constraintViolations.size() == 1
+        ex.constraintViolations.size() == 2
     }
 
     void "test don't cascade to iterable without @Valid"() {