diff --git a/plugins/kotlin-serialization/kotlin-serialization-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlinx/serialization/compiler/backend/common/TypeUtil.kt b/plugins/kotlin-serialization/kotlin-serialization-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlinx/serialization/compiler/backend/common/TypeUtil.kt
index 0cf63f6c222..fa888085bf7 100644
--- a/plugins/kotlin-serialization/kotlin-serialization-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlinx/serialization/compiler/backend/common/TypeUtil.kt
+++ b/plugins/kotlin-serialization/kotlin-serialization-compiler/src/org/jetbrains/kotlinx/serialization/compiler/backend/common/TypeUtil.kt
@@ -122,7 +122,8 @@ fun AbstractSerialGenerator.findTypeSerializerOrContext(
     module: ModuleDescriptor,
     kType: KotlinType,
     sourceElement: PsiElement? = null
-): ClassDescriptor {
+): ClassDescriptor? {
+    if (kType.isTypeParameter()) return null
     return findTypeSerializerOrContextUnchecked(module, kType) ?: throw CompilationException(
         "Serializer for element of type $kType has not been found.\n" +
                 "To use context serializer as fallback, explicitly annotate element with @ContextualSerialization",