diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/queries/basic/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_1/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_1.1.ddl.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/queries/basic/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_1/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_1.1.ddl.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..22b4d02
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/queries/basic/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_1/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_1.1.ddl.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+/*
+ * Description  : drop a type containing a collection
+ * Expected Res : Success
+ * Date         : 25 May 2016
+ * Issue        : 1419
+ */
+
+drop dataverse test if exists;
+create dataverse test;
+use dataverse test;
+
+create type typeSnapshot if not exists as open {
+  countyID: int32,
+  timeBin: interval,
+  tweetCount: int32,
+  retweetCount: int32,
+  users: [int64],
+  top50HashTags: [{string:int32}]
+}
+
+drop type typeSnapshot;
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/queries/basic/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_2/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_2.1.ddl.aql b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/queries/basic/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_2/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_2.1.ddl.aql
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..55691ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/queries/basic/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_2/issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_2.1.ddl.aql
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * 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.
+ */
+/*
+ * Description  : Drop a used type
+ * Expected Res : Failure
+ * Date         : 25 May 2016
+ * Issue        : 1419
+ */
+
+drop dataverse test if exists;
+create dataverse test;
+use dataverse test;
+
+create type subType as {
+  id:int32,
+  list:[string]
+}
+
+create type superType as {
+  superid:int32,
+  superlist:[subType]
+}
+
+drop type subType;
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/testsuite.xml b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/testsuite.xml
index 7a85d57..8f35293 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/testsuite.xml
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-app/src/test/resources/metadata/testsuite.xml
@@ -323,6 +323,17 @@
         <output-dir compare="Text">temp_dataset</output-dir>
       </compilation-unit>
     </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="basic">
+      <compilation-unit name="issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_1">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection</output-dir>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
+    <test-case FilePath="basic">
+      <compilation-unit name="issue_1419_drop_type_with_collection_2">
+        <output-dir compare="Text">none</output-dir>
+        <expected-error>Error: Cannot drop type test.subType being used by type test.superType_superlist</expected-error>
+      </compilation-unit>
+    </test-case>
   </test-group>
   <test-group name="exception">
     <test-case FilePath="exception">
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataNode.java b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataNode.java
index 54ec084..b82c9ee 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataNode.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-metadata/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/metadata/MetadataNode.java
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.rmi.RemoteException;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.List;
 
 import org.apache.asterix.common.api.IAsterixAppRuntimeContext;
@@ -77,6 +78,9 @@
 import org.apache.asterix.om.base.AMutableString;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.base.AString;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ARecordType;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.ATypeTag;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.AUnionType;
+import org.apache.asterix.om.types.AbstractComplexType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.BuiltinType;
 import org.apache.asterix.om.types.IAType;
 import org.apache.asterix.transaction.management.opcallbacks.SecondaryIndexModificationOperationCallback;
@@ -716,7 +720,7 @@
     }
 
     private void confirmDatatypeIsUnused(JobId jobId, String dataverseName, String datatypeName)
-            throws MetadataException {
+            throws MetadataException, RemoteException {
         confirmDatatypeIsUnusedByDatatypes(jobId, dataverseName, datatypeName);
         confirmDatatypeIsUnusedByDatasets(jobId, dataverseName, datatypeName);
     }
@@ -734,33 +738,48 @@
     }
 
     private void confirmDatatypeIsUnusedByDatatypes(JobId jobId, String dataverseName, String datatypeName)
-            throws MetadataException {
+            throws MetadataException, RemoteException {
         //If any datatype uses this type, throw an error
         //TODO: Currently this loads all types into memory. This will need to be fixed for large numbers of types
+        Datatype dataTypeToBeDropped = getDatatype(jobId, dataverseName, datatypeName);
+        assert dataTypeToBeDropped != null;
+        IAType typeToBeDropped = dataTypeToBeDropped.getDatatype();
         List<Datatype> datatypes = getAllDatatypes(jobId);
-        for (Datatype type : datatypes) {
-            if (!type.getDataverseName().equals(dataverseName)) {
+        for (Datatype dataType : datatypes) {
+            //skip types in different dataverses as well as the type to be dropped itself
+            if (!dataType.getDataverseName().equals(dataverseName)
+                    || dataType.getDatatype().getTypeName().equals(datatypeName)) {
                 continue;
             }
-            ARecordType recType = (ARecordType) type.getDatatype();
-            for (IAType subType : recType.getFieldTypes()) {
-                if (subType.getTypeName().equals(datatypeName)) {
-                    throw new MetadataException("Cannot drop type " + dataverseName + "." + datatypeName
-                            + " being used by type " + dataverseName + "." + recType.getTypeName());
-                }
+
+            AbstractComplexType recType = (AbstractComplexType) dataType.getDatatype();
+            if (recType.containsType(typeToBeDropped)) {
+                throw new MetadataException("Cannot drop type " + dataverseName + "." + datatypeName
+                        + " being used by type " + dataverseName + "." + recType.getTypeName());
             }
         }
     }
 
     private List<String> getNestedComplexDatatypeNamesForThisDatatype(JobId jobId, String dataverseName,
-            String datatypeName) throws Exception {
+            String datatypeName) throws MetadataException, RemoteException {
         //Return all field types that aren't builtin types
         Datatype parentType = getDatatype(jobId, dataverseName, datatypeName);
-        ARecordType recType = (ARecordType) parentType.getDatatype();
-        List<String> nestedTypes = new ArrayList<String>();
-        for (IAType subType : recType.getFieldTypes()) {
-            if (!(subType instanceof BuiltinType)) {
-                nestedTypes.add(subType.getTypeName());
+
+        List<IAType> subTypes = null;
+        if (parentType.getDatatype().getTypeTag() == ATypeTag.RECORD) {
+            ARecordType recType = (ARecordType) parentType.getDatatype();
+            subTypes = Arrays.asList(recType.getFieldTypes());
+        } else if (parentType.getDatatype().getTypeTag() == ATypeTag.UNION) {
+            AUnionType recType = (AUnionType) parentType.getDatatype();
+            subTypes = recType.getUnionList();
+        }
+
+        List<String> nestedTypes = new ArrayList<>();
+        if (subTypes != null) {
+            for (IAType subType : subTypes) {
+                if (!(subType instanceof BuiltinType)) {
+                    nestedTypes.add(subType.getTypeName());
+                }
             }
         }
         return nestedTypes;
@@ -977,8 +996,10 @@
             try {
                 while (rangeCursor.hasNext()) {
                     rangeCursor.next();
-                    sb.append(TupleUtils.printTuple(rangeCursor.getTuple(), new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
-                            AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ASTRING),
+                    sb.append(TupleUtils.printTuple(rangeCursor.getTuple(),
+                            new ISerializerDeserializer[] {
+                                    AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(
+                                            BuiltinType.ASTRING),
                             AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE.getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ASTRING),
                             AqlSerializerDeserializerProvider.INSTANCE
                                     .getSerializerDeserializer(BuiltinType.ASTRING) }));
@@ -995,7 +1016,7 @@
 
     private <ResultType> void searchIndex(JobId jobId, IMetadataIndex index, ITupleReference searchKey,
             IValueExtractor<ResultType> valueExtractor, List<ResultType> results)
-            throws MetadataException, IndexException, IOException {
+                    throws MetadataException, IndexException, IOException {
         IBinaryComparatorFactory[] comparatorFactories = index.getKeyBinaryComparatorFactory();
         String resourceName = index.getFile().toString();
         IIndex indexInstance = datasetLifecycleManager.getIndex(resourceName);
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/ARecordType.java b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/ARecordType.java
index 163421d..3cbac09 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/ARecordType.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/ARecordType.java
@@ -310,4 +310,14 @@
         }
         return typeList;
     }
+
+    @Override
+    public boolean containsType(IAType type) {
+        for (IAType aType : fieldTypes) {
+            if (aType.getTypeName().equals(type.getTypeName())) {
+                return true;
+            }
+        }
+        return false;
+    }
 }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AUnionType.java b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AUnionType.java
index 3c29e7f..8e92b81 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AUnionType.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AUnionType.java
@@ -56,9 +56,10 @@
         return isMissableType() || isNullableType();
     }
 
-    private boolean containsType(IAType t) {
+    @Override
+    public boolean containsType(IAType type) {
         for (int index = 0; index < unionList.size(); ++index) {
-            if (unionList.get(index) != null && unionList.get(index).equals(t)) {
+            if (unionList.get(index) != null && unionList.get(index).equals(type)) {
                 return true;
             }
         }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AbstractCollectionType.java b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AbstractCollectionType.java
index 6e2ffef..88a4f93 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AbstractCollectionType.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AbstractCollectionType.java
@@ -63,4 +63,8 @@
         }
     }
 
+    @Override
+    public boolean containsType(IAType type) {
+        return isTyped() && itemType.getTypeName().equals(type.getTypeName());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AbstractComplexType.java b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AbstractComplexType.java
index 1f43e38..9eddd7f 100644
--- a/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AbstractComplexType.java
+++ b/asterixdb/asterix-om/src/main/java/org/apache/asterix/om/types/AbstractComplexType.java
@@ -45,4 +45,5 @@
         return this.deepEqual((IAObject) object);
     }
 
+    public abstract boolean containsType(IAType type);
 }