diff --git a/xstream-hibernate/src/java/com/thoughtworks/xstream/hibernate/util/Hibernate.java b/xstream-hibernate/src/java/com/thoughtworks/xstream/hibernate/util/Hibernate.java
index 566b82eda..a7add4506 100644
--- a/xstream-hibernate/src/java/com/thoughtworks/xstream/hibernate/util/Hibernate.java
+++ b/xstream-hibernate/src/java/com/thoughtworks/xstream/hibernate/util/Hibernate.java
@@ -40,17 +40,22 @@ public class Hibernate {
     public final static Class<?> EnversSortedSet = loadHibernateEnversType("org.hibernate.envers.entities.mapper.relation.lazy.proxy.SortedSetProxy");
 
     private static Class<?> loadHibernateType(final String name) {
-        Class<?> type = null;
+        Class<?> result = tryToLoadClass(name);
+        if( result == null ){
+            result = tryToLoadClass(name.replaceFirst("\\.internal\\.", "."));
+        }
+        if( result == null){
+            result = tryToLoadClass(name.replaceFirst("\\.internal\\.", ".spi."));
+        }
+        return result;
+    }
+
+    private static Class<?> tryToLoadClass(String name) {
         try {
-            try {
-                type = HibernateProxy.class.getClassLoader().loadClass(name);
-            } catch (final ClassNotFoundException e) {
-                type = HibernateProxy.class.getClassLoader().loadClass(name.replaceFirst("\\.internal\\.", "."));
-            }
+            return HibernateProxy.class.getClassLoader().loadClass(name);
         } catch (final ClassNotFoundException e) {
-            // not available
+            return null;
         }
-        return type;
     }
 
     private static Class<?> loadHibernateEnversType(final String name) {