diff --git a/Validator/RecursiveContextualValidator.php b/Validator/RecursiveContextualValidator.php
index b1f1384ff..7920a07c8 100644
--- a/Validator/RecursiveContextualValidator.php
+++ b/Validator/RecursiveContextualValidator.php
@@ -649,8 +649,10 @@ private function validateGenericNode($value, ?object $object, ?string $cacheKey,
             return;
         }
 
-        // If the value is a scalar, pass it anyway, because we want
-        // a NoSuchMetadataException to be thrown in that case
+        if (!\is_object($value)) {
+            throw new NoSuchMetadataException(sprintf('Cannot create metadata for non-objects. Got: "%s".', \gettype($value)));
+        }
+
         $this->validateObject(
             $value,
             $propertyPath,