diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.001.ddl.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.001.ddl.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..db8a131
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.001.ddl.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+DROP DATAVERSE test IF EXISTS;
+CREATE DATAVERSE test;
+USE test;
+
+CREATE COLLECTION NestedPK
+PRIMARY KEY (id:int, name.first:string, name.last:string) WITH {
+    "storage-format": {"format":"column"}
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.002.update.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.002.update.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..fd4b62f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.002.update.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+USE test;
+
+UPSERT INTO NestedPK (
+    {"id":3, "name":{"first":"abc", "last":"xyz"}}
+);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.003.query.sqlpp b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.003.query.sqlpp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..2f525ed
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/queries_sqlpp/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.003.query.sqlpp
@@ -0,0 +1,23 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the
+ * "License"); you may not use this file except in compliance
+ * with the License.  You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *   http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing,
+ * software distributed under the License is distributed on an
+ * "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY
+ * KIND, either express or implied.  See the License for the
+ * specific language governing permissions and limitations
+ * under the License.
+ */
+
+USE test;
+
+SELECT VALUE npk
+FROM NestedPK npk;
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.003.adm b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.003.adm
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..eab75bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/results/column/nested-pk/nested-pk.003.adm
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+{ "id": 3, "name": { "first": "abc", "last": "xyz" } }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
index 88086d6..ce3c3c1 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/runtimets/testsuite_sqlpp.xml
@@ -16152,6 +16152,11 @@
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
     <test-case FilePath="column">
+      <compilation-unit name="nested-pk">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">nested-pk</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="column">
       <compilation-unit name="meta/meta_after_gby">
         <output-dir compare="Text">meta/meta_after_gby</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-column/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/column/metadata/PathInfoSerializer.java b/asterixdb/asterix-column/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/column/metadata/PathInfoSerializer.java
index f72b77b..c1286f2 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-column/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/column/metadata/PathInfoSerializer.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-column/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/column/metadata/PathInfoSerializer.java
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
         //columnIndex
         output.writeInt(columnIndex);
         //maxLevel
-        output.writeInt(level);
+        output.writeInt(primaryKey ? 1 : level);
         //is primary key
         output.writeBoolean(primaryKey);
         //Is collection