diff --git a/Samples/SwiftJavaExtractJNISampleApp/Sources/MySwiftLibrary/MySwiftClass.swift b/Samples/SwiftJavaExtractJNISampleApp/Sources/MySwiftLibrary/MySwiftClass.swift
index df6d46036..43d2338e1 100644
--- a/Samples/SwiftJavaExtractJNISampleApp/Sources/MySwiftLibrary/MySwiftClass.swift
+++ b/Samples/SwiftJavaExtractJNISampleApp/Sources/MySwiftLibrary/MySwiftClass.swift
@@ -103,6 +103,14 @@ public class MySwiftClass {
   public func returnXAsJavaLong() -> JavaLong {
     JavaLong(self.x)
   }
+
+  public func returnXAsOptionalJavaLong() -> JavaLong? {
+    JavaLong(self.x)
+  }
+
+  public func returnXYAsJavaLongs() -> [JavaLong] {
+    [JavaLong(self.x), JavaLong(self.y)]
+  }
 }
 
 extension MySwiftClass: CustomStringConvertible {
diff --git a/Samples/SwiftJavaExtractJNISampleApp/src/test/java/com/example/swift/MySwiftClassTest.java b/Samples/SwiftJavaExtractJNISampleApp/src/test/java/com/example/swift/MySwiftClassTest.java
index 8e13c8d42..e16e6d170 100644
--- a/Samples/SwiftJavaExtractJNISampleApp/src/test/java/com/example/swift/MySwiftClassTest.java
+++ b/Samples/SwiftJavaExtractJNISampleApp/src/test/java/com/example/swift/MySwiftClassTest.java
@@ -174,6 +174,26 @@ void returnXAsJavaLong() {
         }
     }
 
+    @Test
+    void returnXAsOptionalJavaLong() {
+        try (var arena = SwiftArena.ofConfined()) {
+            MySwiftClass c1 = MySwiftClass.init(20, 10, arena);
+            Long javaLong = c1.returnXAsOptionalJavaLong();
+            assertEquals(20L, javaLong);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void returnXYAsJavaLongs() {
+        try (var arena = SwiftArena.ofConfined()) {
+            MySwiftClass c1 = MySwiftClass.init(20, 10, arena);
+            Long[] longs = c1.returnXYAsJavaLongs();
+            assertEquals(2, longs.length);
+            assertEquals(20L, longs[0]);
+            assertEquals(10L, longs[1]);
+        }
+    }
+
     @Test
     void getAsyncVariable() throws Exception {
         try (var arena = SwiftArena.ofConfined()) {
diff --git a/Sources/JExtractSwiftLib/JNI/JNISwift2JavaGenerator+NativeTranslation.swift b/Sources/JExtractSwiftLib/JNI/JNISwift2JavaGenerator+NativeTranslation.swift
index c8c6e952a..ed4006f2a 100644
--- a/Sources/JExtractSwiftLib/JNI/JNISwift2JavaGenerator+NativeTranslation.swift
+++ b/Sources/JExtractSwiftLib/JNI/JNISwift2JavaGenerator+NativeTranslation.swift
@@ -681,7 +681,7 @@ extension JNISwift2JavaGenerator {
 
           return NativeResult(
             javaType: javaType,
-            conversion: .getJNIValue(.asOptional(.placeholder)),
+            conversion: .getJNIValue(.placeholder),
             outParameters: []
           )
         }
@@ -861,7 +861,7 @@ extension JNISwift2JavaGenerator {
           }
           return NativeResult(
             javaType: javaType,
-            conversion: .getJNIValue(.asOptional(.placeholder)),
+            conversion: .getJNIValue(.placeholder),
             outParameters: []
           )
         }
@@ -1015,7 +1015,7 @@ extension JNISwift2JavaGenerator {
 
           return NativeResult(
             javaType: .array(javaType),
-            conversion: .getJNIValue(.asOptional(.placeholder)),
+            conversion: .getJNIValue(.placeholder),
             outParameters: []
           )
         }
@@ -1423,8 +1423,6 @@ extension JNISwift2JavaGenerator {
 
     indirect case optionalMap(NativeSwiftConversionStep)
 
-    indirect case asOptional(NativeSwiftConversionStep)
-
     indirect case unwrapOptional(NativeSwiftConversionStep, name: String, fatalErrorMessage: String)
 
     indirect case asyncCompleteFuture(
@@ -1913,10 +1911,6 @@ extension JNISwift2JavaGenerator {
         }
         return printer.finalize()
 
-      case .asOptional(let inner):
-        let inner = inner.render(&printer, placeholder)
-        return "(\(inner) as Optional)"
-
       case .unwrapOptional(let inner, let name, let fatalErrorMessage):
         let unwrappedName = "\(name)_unwrapped$"
         let inner = inner.render(&printer, placeholder)
diff --git a/Sources/SwiftJava/AnyJavaObject.swift b/Sources/SwiftJava/AnyJavaObject.swift
index 714a82d40..f61c1e57c 100644
--- a/Sources/SwiftJava/AnyJavaObject.swift
+++ b/Sources/SwiftJava/AnyJavaObject.swift
@@ -160,3 +160,18 @@ extension AnyJavaObject {
     }
   }
 }
+
+// ==== -----------------------------------------------------------------------
+// MARK: JNI conversions for non-optional Java objects
+
+extension AnyJavaObject {
+  /// Retrieve the underlying JNI reference for this Java object.
+  public func getJNIValue(in environment: JNIEnvironment) -> jobject {
+    self.javaThis
+  }
+
+  /// Return a fresh local reference safe for returning from a JNI thunk.
+  public func getJNILocalRefValue(in environment: JNIEnvironment) -> jobject? {
+    environment.interface.NewLocalRef(environment, self.javaThis)
+  }
+}
diff --git a/Tests/JExtractSwiftTests/JNI/JNIJavaKitTests.swift b/Tests/JExtractSwiftTests/JNI/JNIJavaKitTests.swift
index db070683c..7c303bce5 100644
--- a/Tests/JExtractSwiftTests/JNI/JNIJavaKitTests.swift
+++ b/Tests/JExtractSwiftTests/JNI/JNIJavaKitTests.swift
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ struct JNIJavaKitTests {
         """
         @_cdecl("Java_com_example_swift_SwiftModule__00024function__")
         public func Java_com_example_swift_SwiftModule__00024function__(environment: UnsafeMutablePointer<JNIEnv?>!, thisClass: jclass) -> jobject? {
-          return (SwiftModule.function() as Optional).getJNILocalRefValue(in: environment)
+          return SwiftModule.function().getJNILocalRefValue(in: environment)
         }
         """
       ]
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ struct JNIJavaKitTests {
         """
         @_cdecl("Java_com_example_swift_SwiftModule__00024function__")
         public func Java_com_example_swift_SwiftModule__00024function__(environment: UnsafeMutablePointer<JNIEnv?>!, thisClass: jclass) -> jobject? {
-          return (SwiftModule.function() as Optional).getJNILocalRefValue(in: environment)
+          return SwiftModule.function().getJNILocalRefValue(in: environment)
         }
         """
       ]
@@ -205,7 +205,7 @@ struct JNIJavaKitTests {
         """
         @_cdecl("Java_com_example_swift_SwiftModule__00024function__")
         public func Java_com_example_swift_SwiftModule__00024function__(environment: UnsafeMutablePointer<JNIEnv?>!, thisClass: jclass) -> jobjectArray? {
-          return (SwiftModule.function() as Optional).getJNILocalRefValue(in: environment)
+          return SwiftModule.function().getJNILocalRefValue(in: environment)
         }
         """
       ]