diff --git a/querydsl-core/src/main/java/com/querydsl/core/types/ExpressionUtils.java b/querydsl-core/src/main/java/com/querydsl/core/types/ExpressionUtils.java
index 07fce7808..5e6822f18 100644
--- a/querydsl-core/src/main/java/com/querydsl/core/types/ExpressionUtils.java
+++ b/querydsl-core/src/main/java/com/querydsl/core/types/ExpressionUtils.java
@@ -544,6 +544,16 @@ public final class ExpressionUtils {
         return variable + "_" + suffix;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Create a new root variable based on the given path
+     *
+     * @param path
+     * @return
+     */
+    public static String createRootVariable(Path<?> path) {
+        return path.accept(ToStringVisitor.DEFAULT, TEMPLATES);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Converts the given object to an Expression
      *
diff --git a/querydsl-jpa/src/main/java/com/querydsl/jpa/JPAQueryMixin.java b/querydsl-jpa/src/main/java/com/querydsl/jpa/JPAQueryMixin.java
index a915db42a..49d9c3260 100644
--- a/querydsl-jpa/src/main/java/com/querydsl/jpa/JPAQueryMixin.java
+++ b/querydsl-jpa/src/main/java/com/querydsl/jpa/JPAQueryMixin.java
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ public class JPAQueryMixin<T> extends QueryMixin<T> {
             }
         } else if (metadata.getParent().getMetadata().isRoot()) {
             Class<T> type = getElementTypeOrType(path);
-            Path<T> newPath = new PathImpl<T>(type, path.toString().replace('.', '_'));
+            Path<T> newPath = new PathImpl<T>(type, ExpressionUtils.createRootVariable(path));
             leftJoin(path, newPath);
             return newPath;
         } else {
@@ -145,7 +145,7 @@ public class JPAQueryMixin<T> extends QueryMixin<T> {
             Path<?> parent = shorten(metadata.getParent(), paths);
             Path<T> oldPath = new PathImpl<T>(path.getType(),
                     new PathMetadata(parent, metadata.getElement(), metadata.getPathType()));
-            Path<T> newPath = new PathImpl<T>(type, oldPath.toString().replace('.', '_'));
+            Path<T> newPath = new PathImpl<T>(type, ExpressionUtils.createRootVariable(oldPath));
             aliases.put(path, newPath);
             leftJoin(oldPath, newPath);
             return newPath;