diff --git a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/ethylene.library-conventions.gradle b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/ethylene.library-conventions.gradle
index ba80cdb..258459e 100644
--- a/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/ethylene.library-conventions.gradle
+++ b/buildSrc/src/main/groovy/ethylene.library-conventions.gradle
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ plugins {
 }
 
 group 'com.github.steanky'
-version '0.23.1'
+version '0.23.2'
 
 publishing {
     publications {
diff --git a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/Signature.java b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/Signature.java
index af0be4b..2f18b72 100644
--- a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/Signature.java
+++ b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/Signature.java
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ default boolean hasBuildingObject() {
      * @param element the element from which to initialize the building object
      * @return the initialized building object which will later be populated with data
      */
-    default @NotNull TReturn initBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigElement element) {
+    default @NotNull Object initBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigElement element) {
         throw new UnsupportedOperationException("This signature does not support pre-initialized building objects");
     }
 
@@ -136,7 +136,7 @@ default boolean hasBuildingObject() {
      * @return a new object if this signature does not have a building object; otherwise, if a building object is
      * provided, populates it
      */
-    @NotNull TReturn buildObject(@Nullable TReturn buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args);
+    @NotNull Object buildObject(@Nullable Object buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args);
 
     /**
      * Whether this signature should respect argument names when being matched.
@@ -312,7 +312,7 @@ private SignatureImpl(int priority, Collection<Map.Entry<String, SignatureParame
 
             return new AbstractCollection<>() {
                 @Override
-                public Iterator<TypedObject> iterator() {
+                public @NotNull Iterator<TypedObject> iterator() {
                     return new Iterator<>() {
                         private final Iterator<Object> objectIterator = args.iterator();
                         private final Iterator<Map.Entry<String, SignatureParameter>> entryIterator = argumentTypes.iterator();
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ public boolean hasBuildingObject() {
         }
 
         @Override
-        public @NotNull T initBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigElement element) {
+        public @NotNull Object initBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigElement element) {
             if (buildingObjectInitializer == null) {
                 //throws an exception
                 return Signature.super.initBuildingObject(element);
@@ -360,9 +360,10 @@ public boolean hasBuildingObject() {
             return buildingObjectInitializer.apply(element);
         }
 
+        @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
         @Override
-        public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable T buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
-            return constructor.apply(buildingObject, new Arguments(args));
+        public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable Object buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
+            return constructor.apply((T) buildingObject, new Arguments(args));
         }
 
         @Override
diff --git a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/constructor/ConstructorSignature.java b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/constructor/ConstructorSignature.java
index c0627f8..d15652d 100644
--- a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/constructor/ConstructorSignature.java
+++ b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/constructor/ConstructorSignature.java
@@ -169,7 +169,7 @@ private static Map.Entry<String, SignatureParameter> makeEntry(Parameter paramet
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     @Override
-    public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable T buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
+    public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable Object buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
         if (buildingObject != null) {
             throw new MapperException("ConstructorSignature does not support pre-initialized building objects");
         }
diff --git a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/ArraySignature.java b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/ArraySignature.java
index b7a02d6..3e3a2e4 100644
--- a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/ArraySignature.java
+++ b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/ArraySignature.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ public ArraySignature(@NotNull Token<T> componentType) {
 
         return new AbstractCollection<>() {
             @Override
-            public Iterator<TypedObject> iterator() {
+            public @NotNull Iterator<TypedObject> iterator() {
                 return new Iterator<>() {
                     private int i = 0;
 
@@ -59,21 +59,29 @@ public int size() {
         };
     }
 
-
-    @SuppressWarnings({"SuspiciousSystemArraycopy", "unchecked"})
+    @SuppressWarnings("SuspiciousSystemArraycopy")
     @Override
-    public T @NotNull [] buildObject(@NotNull T @Nullable [] buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
+    public @NotNull Object buildObject(@Nullable Object buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
         if (buildingObject == null) {
-            return (T[]) args;
+            buildingObject = Array.newInstance(containerType.componentType().rawType(), args.length);
+        }
+
+        if (containerType.componentType().rawType().isPrimitive()) {
+            //manual arraycopy when component type is primitive, we must unbox as args will be boxed
+            for (int i = 0; i < args.length; i++) {
+                Array.set(buildingObject, i, args[i]);
+            }
+
+            return buildingObject;
         }
 
+        //in other cases, we can do a likely-faster arraycopy
         System.arraycopy(args, 0, buildingObject, 0, args.length);
         return buildingObject;
     }
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     @Override
-    protected @NotNull T @NotNull [] makeBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigContainer container) {
-        return (T[]) Array.newInstance(containerType.componentType().rawType(), container.elementCollection().size());
+    protected @NotNull Object makeBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigContainer container) {
+        return Array.newInstance(containerType.componentType().rawType(), container.elementCollection().size());
     }
 }
diff --git a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/CollectionSignature.java b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/CollectionSignature.java
index fadc361..cd2bf4d 100644
--- a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/CollectionSignature.java
+++ b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/CollectionSignature.java
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public CollectionSignature(@NotNull Token<?> componentType, @NotNull Token<T> co
 
         return new AbstractCollection<>() {
             @Override
-            public Iterator<TypedObject> iterator() {
+            public @NotNull Iterator<TypedObject> iterator() {
                 return new Iterator<>() {
                     private final Iterator<Object> collectionIterator = objectCollection.iterator();
 
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ public int size() {
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     @Override
-    public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable T buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
+    public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable Object buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
         if (buildingObject != null) {
             Collection<Object> buildingCollection = (Collection<Object>) buildingObject;
             buildingCollection.addAll(Arrays.asList(args));
@@ -92,9 +92,8 @@ private Collection<Object> makeNewCollection(int size) {
         }
     }
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     @Override
-    protected @NotNull T makeBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigContainer container) {
-        return (T) makeNewCollection(container.entryCollection().size());
+    protected @NotNull Object makeBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigContainer container) {
+        return makeNewCollection(container.entryCollection().size());
     }
 }
diff --git a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/ContainerSignatureBase.java b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/ContainerSignatureBase.java
index e8d175c..3e31494 100644
--- a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/ContainerSignatureBase.java
+++ b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/ContainerSignatureBase.java
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ public boolean hasBuildingObject() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public @NotNull T initBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigElement element) {
+    public @NotNull Object initBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigElement element) {
         if (!element.isContainer()) {
             throw new MapperException("Expected container, got '" + element.type() + "'");
         }
@@ -165,7 +165,7 @@ public int length(@Nullable ConfigElement configElement) {
      * @param container the {@link ConfigContainer} used to create the building object
      * @return the new building object
      */
-    protected abstract @NotNull T makeBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigContainer container);
+    protected abstract @NotNull Object makeBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigContainer container);
 
     /**
      * Information about a constructor. Container constructors may be parameterless (in which case they take no
diff --git a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/MapSignature.java b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/MapSignature.java
index c35057e..78189bc 100644
--- a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/MapSignature.java
+++ b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/container/MapSignature.java
@@ -9,10 +9,7 @@
 
 import java.lang.reflect.Constructor;
 import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
-import java.util.AbstractCollection;
-import java.util.Collection;
-import java.util.Iterator;
-import java.util.Map;
+import java.util.*;
 
 
 /**
@@ -39,7 +36,7 @@ public MapSignature(@NotNull Token<?> keyType, @NotNull Token<?> valueType, @Not
 
         return new AbstractCollection<>() {
             @Override
-            public Iterator<TypedObject> iterator() {
+            public @NotNull Iterator<TypedObject> iterator() {
                 return new Iterator<>() {
                     private final Iterator<Map.Entry<Object, Object>> entryIterator = map.entrySet().iterator();
 
@@ -64,7 +61,7 @@ public int size() {
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     @Override
-    public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable T buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
+    public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable Object buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
         if (buildingObject != null) {
             Map<Object, Object> buildingMap = (Map<Object, Object>) buildingObject;
             finishMap(buildingMap, args);
@@ -98,9 +95,8 @@ private Map<Object, Object> getMap(int size) {
         }
     }
 
-    @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     @Override
-    protected @NotNull T makeBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigContainer container) {
-        return (T) getMap(container.entryCollection().size());
+    protected @NotNull Object makeBuildingObject(@NotNull ConfigContainer container) {
+        return getMap(container.entryCollection().size());
     }
 }
diff --git a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/field/FieldSignature.java b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/field/FieldSignature.java
index 7c965b7..2892d4d 100644
--- a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/field/FieldSignature.java
+++ b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/field/FieldSignature.java
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ public boolean hasBuildingObject() {
     }
 
     @Override
-    public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable T buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
+    public @NotNull Object buildObject(@Nullable Object buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
         try {
             if (buildingObject != null) {
                 finishObject(buildingObject, args);
diff --git a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/record/RecordSignature.java b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/record/RecordSignature.java
index 359fa9a..b57e607 100644
--- a/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/record/RecordSignature.java
+++ b/ethylene-mapper/src/main/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/signature/record/RecordSignature.java
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ public RecordSignature(@NotNull Token<T> genericReturnType) {
 
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     @Override
-    public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable T buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
+    public @NotNull T buildObject(@Nullable Object buildingObject, Object @NotNull [] args) {
         if (buildingObject != null) {
             throw new MapperException("Pre-initialized building objects are not supported by this signature");
         }
diff --git a/ethylene-mapper/src/test/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/MappingConfigProcessorIntegrationTest.java b/ethylene-mapper/src/test/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/MappingConfigProcessorIntegrationTest.java
index 49b1524..7256868 100644
--- a/ethylene-mapper/src/test/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/MappingConfigProcessorIntegrationTest.java
+++ b/ethylene-mapper/src/test/java/com/github/steanky/ethylene/mapper/MappingConfigProcessorIntegrationTest.java
@@ -220,6 +220,19 @@ public record Child(double data) {}
 
         public record Data(int x, Child child) {}
 
+        public record IntArrayContaining(int[] values) {
+
+        }
+
+        @Test
+        void intArray() throws ConfigProcessException {
+            ConfigProcessor<IntArrayContaining> processor = new MappingConfigProcessor<>(new Token<>() {
+            }, source, typeHinter, typeResolver, scalarSource, false);
+
+            IntArrayContaining containing = processor.dataFromElement(ConfigElement.of("{values=[0, 1, 2, 3, 4]}"));
+            assertArrayEquals(new int[] {0, 1, 2, 3, 4}, containing.values);
+        }
+
         @Test
         void upcastFloat() throws ConfigProcessException {
             ConfigProcessor<Data> processor = new MappingConfigProcessor<>(new Token<>() {