diff --git a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLContext.scala b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLContext.scala
index af6018472cb0..dfb12f272eb2 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLContext.scala
+++ b/sql/core/src/main/scala/org/apache/spark/sql/SQLContext.scala
@@ -1098,16 +1098,29 @@ object SQLContext {
       data: Iterator[_],
       beanClass: Class[_],
       attrs: Seq[AttributeReference]): Iterator[InternalRow] = {
-    val extractors =
-      JavaTypeInference.getJavaBeanReadableProperties(beanClass).map(_.getReadMethod)
-    val methodsToConverts = extractors.zip(attrs).map { case (e, attr) =>
-      (e, CatalystTypeConverters.createToCatalystConverter(attr.dataType))
+    def createStructConverter(cls: Class[_], fieldTypes: Seq[DataType]): Any => InternalRow = {
+      val methodConverters =
+        JavaTypeInference.getJavaBeanReadableProperties(cls).zip(fieldTypes)
+          .map { case (property, fieldType) =>
+            val method = property.getReadMethod
+            method -> createConverter(method.getReturnType, fieldType)
+          }
+      value =>
+        if (value == null) {
+          null
+        } else {
+          new GenericInternalRow(
+            methodConverters.map { case (method, converter) =>
+              converter(method.invoke(value))
+            })
+        }
     }
-    data.map { element =>
-      new GenericInternalRow(
-        methodsToConverts.map { case (e, convert) => convert(e.invoke(element)) }
-      ): InternalRow
+    def createConverter(cls: Class[_], dataType: DataType): Any => Any = dataType match {
+      case struct: StructType => createStructConverter(cls, struct.map(_.dataType))
+      case _ => CatalystTypeConverters.createToCatalystConverter(dataType)
     }
+    val dataConverter = createStructConverter(beanClass, attrs.map(_.dataType))
+    data.map(dataConverter)
   }
 
   /**
diff --git a/sql/core/src/test/java/test/org/apache/spark/sql/JavaDataFrameSuite.java b/sql/core/src/test/java/test/org/apache/spark/sql/JavaDataFrameSuite.java
index 3f37e5814cca..df8613f73300 100644
--- a/sql/core/src/test/java/test/org/apache/spark/sql/JavaDataFrameSuite.java
+++ b/sql/core/src/test/java/test/org/apache/spark/sql/JavaDataFrameSuite.java
@@ -134,6 +134,8 @@ public static class Bean implements Serializable {
     private Map<String, int[]> c = ImmutableMap.of("hello", new int[] { 1, 2 });
     private List<String> d = Arrays.asList("floppy", "disk");
     private BigInteger e = new BigInteger("1234567");
+    private NestedBean f = new NestedBean();
+    private NestedBean g = null;
 
     public double getA() {
       return a;
@@ -152,6 +154,22 @@ public List<String> getD() {
     }
 
     public BigInteger getE() { return e; }
+
+    public NestedBean getF() {
+      return f;
+    }
+
+    public NestedBean getG() {
+      return g;
+    }
+
+    public static class NestedBean implements Serializable {
+      private int a = 1;
+
+      public int getA() {
+        return a;
+      }
+    }
   }
 
   void validateDataFrameWithBeans(Bean bean, Dataset<Row> df) {
@@ -171,7 +189,14 @@ void validateDataFrameWithBeans(Bean bean, Dataset<Row> df) {
       schema.apply("d"));
     Assert.assertEquals(new StructField("e", DataTypes.createDecimalType(38,0), true,
       Metadata.empty()), schema.apply("e"));
-    Row first = df.select("a", "b", "c", "d", "e").first();
+    StructType nestedBeanType =
+      DataTypes.createStructType(Collections.singletonList(new StructField(
+        "a", IntegerType$.MODULE$, false, Metadata.empty())));
+    Assert.assertEquals(new StructField("f", nestedBeanType, true, Metadata.empty()),
+      schema.apply("f"));
+    Assert.assertEquals(new StructField("g", nestedBeanType, true, Metadata.empty()),
+      schema.apply("g"));
+    Row first = df.select("a", "b", "c", "d", "e", "f", "g").first();
     Assert.assertEquals(bean.getA(), first.getDouble(0), 0.0);
     // Now Java lists and maps are converted to Scala Seq's and Map's. Once we get a Seq below,
     // verify that it has the expected length, and contains expected elements.
@@ -192,6 +217,9 @@ void validateDataFrameWithBeans(Bean bean, Dataset<Row> df) {
     }
     // Java.math.BigInteger is equivalent to Spark Decimal(38,0)
     Assert.assertEquals(new BigDecimal(bean.getE()), first.getDecimal(4));
+    Row nested = first.getStruct(5);
+    Assert.assertEquals(bean.getF().getA(), nested.getInt(0));
+    Assert.assertTrue(first.isNullAt(6));
   }
 
   @Test