diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/window/AggregateProcessor.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/window/AggregateProcessor.scala
index c9f5d3b3d92d..dfa1100c37a0 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/window/AggregateProcessor.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/execution/window/AggregateProcessor.scala
@@ -145,10 +145,13 @@ private[window] final class AggregateProcessor(
 
   /** Update the buffer. */
   def update(input: InternalRow): Unit = {
-    updateProjection(join(buffer, input))
+    // TODO(hvanhovell) this sacrifices performance for correctness. We should make sure that
+    // MutableProjection makes copies of the complex input objects it buffer.
+    val copy = input.copy()
+    updateProjection(join(buffer, copy))
     var i = 0
     while (i < numImperatives) {
-      imperatives(i).update(buffer, input)
+      imperatives(i).update(buffer, copy)
       i += 1
     }
   }
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameWindowFunctionsSuite.scala b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameWindowFunctionsSuite.scala
index 1255c4910471..204858fa2978 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameWindowFunctionsSuite.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/DataFrameWindowFunctionsSuite.scala
@@ -19,8 +19,9 @@ package org.apache.spark.sql
 
 import org.apache.spark.sql.expressions.{MutableAggregationBuffer, UserDefinedAggregateFunction, Window}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.functions._
+import org.apache.spark.sql.internal.SQLConf
 import org.apache.spark.sql.test.SharedSQLContext
-import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{DataType, LongType, StructType}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
 
 /**
  * Window function testing for DataFrame API.
@@ -423,4 +424,48 @@ class DataFrameWindowFunctionsSuite extends QueryTest with SharedSQLContext {
       df.select(selectList: _*).where($"value" < 2),
       Seq(Row(3, "1", null, 3.0, 4.0, 3.0), Row(5, "1", false, 4.0, 5.0, 5.0)))
   }
+
+  test("SPARK-21258: complex object in combination with spilling") {
+    // Make sure we trigger the spilling path.
+    withSQLConf(SQLConf.WINDOW_EXEC_BUFFER_SPILL_THRESHOLD.key -> "17") {
+      val sampleSchema = new StructType().
+        add("f0", StringType).
+        add("f1", LongType).
+        add("f2", ArrayType(new StructType().
+          add("f20", StringType))).
+        add("f3", ArrayType(new StructType().
+          add("f30", StringType)))
+
+      val w0 = Window.partitionBy("f0").orderBy("f1")
+      val w1 = w0.rowsBetween(Long.MinValue, Long.MaxValue)
+
+      val c0 = first(struct($"f2", $"f3")).over(w0) as "c0"
+      val c1 = last(struct($"f2", $"f3")).over(w1) as "c1"
+
+      val input =
+        """{"f1":1497820153720,"f2":[{"f20":"x","f21":0}],"f3":[{"f30":"x","f31":0}]}
+          |{"f1":1497802179638}
+          |{"f1":1497802189347}
+          |{"f1":1497802189593}
+          |{"f1":1497802189597}
+          |{"f1":1497802189599}
+          |{"f1":1497802192103}
+          |{"f1":1497802193414}
+          |{"f1":1497802193577}
+          |{"f1":1497802193709}
+          |{"f1":1497802202883}
+          |{"f1":1497802203006}
+          |{"f1":1497802203743}
+          |{"f1":1497802203834}
+          |{"f1":1497802203887}
+          |{"f1":1497802203893}
+          |{"f1":1497802203976}
+          |{"f1":1497820168098}
+          |""".stripMargin.split("\n").toSeq
+
+      import testImplicits._
+
+      spark.read.schema(sampleSchema).json(input.toDS()).select(c0, c1).foreach { _ => () }
+    }
+  }
 }