diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/IndexResolver.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/IndexResolver.java
index e2137ac04..26503508b 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/IndexResolver.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/IndexResolver.java
@@ -25,6 +25,15 @@ import org.springframework.util.Assert;
 
 /**
  * {@link IndexResolver} finds those {@link IndexDefinition}s to be created for a given class.
+ * <p>
+ * The {@link IndexResolver} considers index annotations like {@link Indexed}, {@link GeoSpatialIndexed},
+ * {@link HashIndexed}, {@link TextIndexed} and {@link WildcardIndexed} on properties as well as {@link CompoundIndex}
+ * and {@link WildcardIndexed} on types.
+ * <p>
+ * Unless specified otherwise the index name will be created out of the keys/path involved in the index. <br />
+ * {@link TextIndexed} properties are collected into a single index that covers the detected fields. <br />
+ * {@link java.util.Map} like structures, unless annotated with {@link WildcardIndexed}, are skipped because the
+ * {@link java.util.Map.Entry#getKey() map key}, which cannot be resolved from static metadata, needs to be part of the index.
  *
  * @author Christoph Strobl
  * @author Thomas Darimont
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolver.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolver.java
index 5fdb1cbc4..28ce6c0f2 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolver.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolver.java
@@ -157,6 +157,10 @@ public class MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolver implements IndexResolver {
 			List<IndexDefinitionHolder> indexes, CycleGuard guard) {
 
 		try {
+			if (isMapWithoutWildcardIndex(persistentProperty)) {
+				return;
+			}
+
 			if (persistentProperty.isEntity()) {
 				indexes.addAll(resolveIndexForEntity(mappingContext.getPersistentEntity(persistentProperty),
 						persistentProperty.isUnwrapped() ? "" : persistentProperty.getFieldName(), Path.of(persistentProperty),
@@ -217,6 +221,10 @@ public class MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolver implements IndexResolver {
 		Path propertyPath = path.append(persistentProperty);
 		guard.protect(persistentProperty, propertyPath);
 
+		if (isMapWithoutWildcardIndex(persistentProperty)) {
+			return;
+		}
+
 		if (persistentProperty.isEntity()) {
 			try {
 				indexes.addAll(resolveIndexForEntity(mappingContext.getPersistentEntity(persistentProperty),
@@ -346,6 +354,10 @@ public class MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolver implements IndexResolver {
 					indexDefinitionBuilder.withLanguageOverride(persistentProperty.getFieldName());
 				}
 
+				if(persistentProperty.isMap()) {
+					return;
+				}
+
 				TextIndexed indexed = persistentProperty.findAnnotation(TextIndexed.class);
 
 				if (includeOptions.isForce() || indexed != null || persistentProperty.isEntity()) {
@@ -798,6 +810,10 @@ public class MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolver implements IndexResolver {
 		return expression.getValue(evaluationContext, Object.class);
 	}
 
+	private static boolean isMapWithoutWildcardIndex(MongoPersistentProperty property) {
+		return property.isMap() && !property.isAnnotationPresent(WildcardIndexed.class);
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * {@link CycleGuard} holds information about properties and the paths for accessing those. This information is used
 	 * to detect potential cycles within the references.
diff --git a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolverUnitTests.java b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolverUnitTests.java
index 30f6a9bfc..b4f1bcd55 100644
--- a/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolverUnitTests.java
+++ b/spring-data-mongodb/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/mongodb/core/index/MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolverUnitTests.java
@@ -1393,6 +1393,15 @@ public class MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolverUnitTests {
 			});
 		}
 
+		@Test // GH-3914
+		public void shouldSkipMapStructuresUnlessAnnotatedWithWildcardIndex() {
+
+			List<IndexDefinitionHolder> indexDefinitions = prepareMappingContextAndResolveIndexForType(
+					WithMapStructures.class);
+
+			assertThat(indexDefinitions).hasSize(1);
+		}
+
 		@Document
 		class MixedIndexRoot {
 
@@ -1626,6 +1635,17 @@ public class MongoPersistentEntityIndexResolverUnitTests {
 			T entity;
 		}
 
+		@Document
+		class WithMapStructures {
+			Map<String, ValueObject> rootMap;
+			NestedInMapWithStructures nested;
+			ValueObject plainValue;
+		}
+
+		class NestedInMapWithStructures {
+			Map<String, ValueObject> nestedMap;
+		}
+
 		@Document
 		class EntityWithGenericTypeWrapperAsElement {
 			List<GenericEntityWrapper<DocumentWithNamedIndex>> listWithGeneircTypeElement;
diff --git a/src/main/asciidoc/reference/mapping.adoc b/src/main/asciidoc/reference/mapping.adoc
index e30182669..9ba17cb1f 100644
--- a/src/main/asciidoc/reference/mapping.adoc
+++ b/src/main/asciidoc/reference/mapping.adoc
@@ -402,12 +402,17 @@ Indexes are automatically created for the initial entity set on application star
 
 We generally recommend explicit index creation for application-based control of indexes as Spring Data cannot automatically create indexes for collections that were recreated while the application was running.
 
-`IndexResolver` provides an abstraction for programmatic index definition creation if you want to make use of `@Indexed` annotations such as `@GeoSpatialIndexed`, `@TextIndexed`, `@CompoundIndex`.
+`IndexResolver` provides an abstraction for programmatic index definition creation if you want to make use of `@Indexed` annotations such as `@GeoSpatialIndexed`, `@TextIndexed`, `@CompoundIndex` and `@WildcardIndexed`.
 You can use index definitions with `IndexOperations` to create indexes.
 A good point in time for index creation is on application startup, specifically after the application context was refreshed, triggered by observing `ContextRefreshedEvent`.
 This event guarantees that the context is fully initialized.
 Note that at this time other components, especially bean factories might have access to the MongoDB database.
 
+[WARNING]
+===
+`Map` like structures, unless annotated with `@WildcardIndexed`, are skipped by the `IndexResolver` because the _map key_, which cannot be resolved from static metadata, needs to be part of the index definition.
+===
+
 .Programmatic Index Creation for a single Domain Type
 ====
 [source,java]