diff --git a/smithy-model/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/model/node/DefaultNodeDeserializers.java b/smithy-model/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/model/node/DefaultNodeDeserializers.java
index 8e6261894b6..553213f9515 100644
--- a/smithy-model/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/model/node/DefaultNodeDeserializers.java
+++ b/smithy-model/src/main/java/software/amazon/smithy/model/node/DefaultNodeDeserializers.java
@@ -186,6 +186,13 @@ public NodeMapper.ObjectCreator getCreator(NodeType nodeType, Type target, NodeM
 
                 // Extract out the expected generic type of the collection.
                 Type memberType = Object.class;
+
+                // If given a Class, then attempt to find the generic superclass (e.g., extending ArrayList with a
+                // concrete generic type).
+                if (targetType instanceof Class) {
+                    targetType = ((Class<?>) target).getGenericSuperclass();
+                }
+
                 if (targetType instanceof ParameterizedType) {
                     Type[] genericTypes = ((ParameterizedType) targetType).getActualTypeArguments();
                     if (genericTypes.length > 0) {
diff --git a/smithy-model/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/model/node/NodeMapperTest.java b/smithy-model/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/model/node/NodeMapperTest.java
index 76eebb21ce7..d1d15729b10 100644
--- a/smithy-model/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/model/node/NodeMapperTest.java
+++ b/smithy-model/src/test/java/software/amazon/smithy/model/node/NodeMapperTest.java
@@ -5,8 +5,10 @@
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.containsString;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.equalTo;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasKey;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasSize;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.hasValue;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.instanceOf;
+import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.is;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.not;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.nullValue;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.startsWith;
@@ -940,6 +942,59 @@ public static final class NonZeroArgConstructorCollection extends ArrayList<Stri
         public NonZeroArgConstructorCollection(String notGonnaWork) {}
     }
 
+    // We previously reported this kind of deserialization as working, but it actually was storing objects of the
+    // wrong type in collections, causing ClassCastExceptions at runtime.
+    @Test
+    public void deserializesIntoTypedList() {
+        Node value = Node.parse("[{\"a\": true}, {\"a\": false}]");
+        NodeMapper mapper = new NodeMapper();
+
+        FooList result = mapper.deserialize(value, FooList.class);
+
+        assertThat(result, hasSize(2));
+        assertThat(result.get(0), instanceOf(FooList.Foo.class));
+        assertThat(result.get(0).a(), is(true));
+        assertThat(result.get(1), instanceOf(FooList.Foo.class));
+        assertThat(result.get(1).a(), is(false));
+    }
+
+    public static final class FooList extends ArrayList<FooList.Foo> {
+        public static final class Foo {
+            boolean a;
+
+            public boolean a() {
+                return a;
+            }
+
+            public void a(boolean a) {
+                this.a = a;
+            }
+        }
+    }
+
+    // Throw some nested generics at the NodeMapper to ensure it works with them.
+    @Test
+    public void deserializesIntoTypedListWithNestedGenerics() {
+        Node value = Node.parse("[ [[{\"a\": true}]], [[{\"a\": false}]] ]");
+        NodeMapper mapper = new NodeMapper();
+        NestedFooList result = mapper.deserialize(value, NestedFooList.class);
+
+        assertThat(result, hasSize(2));
+        assertThat(result.get(0), instanceOf(ArrayList.class));
+        assertThat(result.get(0), hasSize(1));
+        assertThat(result.get(0).get(0), hasSize(1));
+        assertThat(result.get(0).get(0), instanceOf(FooList.class));
+        assertThat(result.get(0).get(0).get(0), instanceOf(FooList.Foo.class));
+
+        assertThat(result.get(1), instanceOf(ArrayList.class));
+        assertThat(result.get(1), hasSize(1));
+        assertThat(result.get(1).get(0), hasSize(1));
+        assertThat(result.get(1).get(0), instanceOf(FooList.class));
+        assertThat(result.get(1).get(0).get(0), instanceOf(FooList.Foo.class));
+    }
+
+    public static final class NestedFooList extends ArrayList<ArrayList<FooList>> {}
+
     @Test
     public void deserializedIntoMap() {
         Node heterogeneous = Node.parse("{\"foo\":\"foo\",\"baz\":10}");