diff --git a/backends-velox/src/main/scala/io/glutenproject/backendsapi/velox/ValidatorApiImpl.scala b/backends-velox/src/main/scala/io/glutenproject/backendsapi/velox/ValidatorApiImpl.scala
index b6943bbbe4e8..06bd2e2ff9bf 100644
--- a/backends-velox/src/main/scala/io/glutenproject/backendsapi/velox/ValidatorApiImpl.scala
+++ b/backends-velox/src/main/scala/io/glutenproject/backendsapi/velox/ValidatorApiImpl.scala
@@ -23,10 +23,10 @@ import io.glutenproject.substrait.plan.PlanNode
 import io.glutenproject.validate.NativePlanValidationInfo
 import io.glutenproject.vectorized.NativePlanEvaluator
 
-import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.{CreateMap, Explode, Expression, Generator, JsonTuple, Literal, PosExplode}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.expressions.{CreateMap, Explode, Expression, Generator, JsonTuple, PosExplode}
 import org.apache.spark.sql.catalyst.plans.physical.Partitioning
 import org.apache.spark.sql.execution.SparkPlan
-import org.apache.spark.sql.types.{ArrayType, BinaryType, BooleanType, ByteType, DataType, DateType, DecimalType, DoubleType, FloatType, IntegerType, LongType, MapType, ShortType, StringType, StructType, TimestampType}
+import org.apache.spark.sql.types._
 
 class ValidatorApiImpl extends ValidatorApi {
 
@@ -95,20 +95,15 @@ class ValidatorApiImpl extends ValidatorApi {
       return ValidationResult.notOk(s"Velox backend does not support outer")
     }
     generator match {
-      case generator: JsonTuple =>
+      case _: JsonTuple =>
         ValidationResult.notOk(s"Velox backend does not support this json_tuple")
-      case generator: PosExplode =>
+      case _: PosExplode =>
         // TODO(yuan): support posexplode and remove this check
         ValidationResult.notOk(s"Velox backend does not support this posexplode")
-      case explode: Explode if (explode.child.isInstanceOf[CreateMap]) =>
-        // explode(MAP(col1, col2))
-        ValidationResult.notOk(s"Velox backend does not support MAP datatype")
-      case explode: Explode if (explode.child.isInstanceOf[Literal]) =>
-        // explode(ARRAY(1, 2, 3))
-        ValidationResult.notOk(s"Velox backend does not support literal Array datatype")
       case explode: Explode =>
-        explode.child.dataType match {
-          case _: MapType =>
+        explode.child match {
+          case _: CreateMap =>
+            // explode(MAP(col1, col2))
             ValidationResult.notOk(s"Velox backend does not support MAP datatype")
           case _ =>
             ValidationResult.ok
diff --git a/backends-velox/src/test/scala/io/glutenproject/execution/TestOperator.scala b/backends-velox/src/test/scala/io/glutenproject/execution/TestOperator.scala
index 5216a32ad3eb..e2e34100d4a2 100644
--- a/backends-velox/src/test/scala/io/glutenproject/execution/TestOperator.scala
+++ b/backends-velox/src/test/scala/io/glutenproject/execution/TestOperator.scala
@@ -694,4 +694,28 @@ class TestOperator extends VeloxWholeStageTransformerSuite with AdaptiveSparkPla
       }
     }
   }
+
+  test("test explode function") {
+    runQueryAndCompare("""
+                         |SELECT explode(array(1, 2, 3));
+                         |""".stripMargin) {
+      checkOperatorMatch[GenerateExecTransformer]
+    }
+    runQueryAndCompare("""
+                         |SELECT explode(map(1, 'a', 2, 'b'));
+                         |""".stripMargin) {
+      checkOperatorMatch[GenerateExecTransformer]
+    }
+    runQueryAndCompare(
+      """
+        |SELECT explode(array(map(1, 'a', 2, 'b'), map(3, 'c', 4, 'd'), map(5, 'e', 6, 'f')));
+        |""".stripMargin) {
+      checkOperatorMatch[GenerateExecTransformer]
+    }
+    runQueryAndCompare("""
+                         |SELECT explode(map(1, array(1, 2), 2, array(3, 4)));
+                         |""".stripMargin) {
+      checkOperatorMatch[GenerateExecTransformer]
+    }
+  }
 }
diff --git a/cpp/velox/substrait/SubstraitToVeloxPlan.cc b/cpp/velox/substrait/SubstraitToVeloxPlan.cc
index 4fcefd4930ad..c3832ee22ddd 100644
--- a/cpp/velox/substrait/SubstraitToVeloxPlan.cc
+++ b/cpp/velox/substrait/SubstraitToVeloxPlan.cc
@@ -498,8 +498,6 @@ core::PlanNodePtr SubstraitToVeloxPlanConverter::toVeloxPlan(const ::substrait::
 
   std::vector<core::FieldAccessTypedExprPtr> replicated;
   std::vector<core::FieldAccessTypedExprPtr> unnest;
-  // TODO(yuan): get from generator output
-  std::vector<std::string> unnestNames = {"C0"};
 
   const auto& generator = generateRel.generator();
   const auto& requiredChildOutput = generateRel.child_output();
@@ -534,6 +532,21 @@ core::PlanNodePtr SubstraitToVeloxPlanConverter::toVeloxPlan(const ::substrait::
     unnest.emplace_back(unnestFieldExpr);
   }
 
+  // TODO(yuan): get from generator output
+  std::vector<std::string> unnestNames;
+  int unnestIndex = 0;
+  for (const auto& variable : unnest) {
+    if (variable->type()->isArray()) {
+      unnestNames.emplace_back(fmt::format("C{}", unnestIndex++));
+    } else if (variable->type()->isMap()) {
+      unnestNames.emplace_back(fmt::format("C{}", unnestIndex++));
+      unnestNames.emplace_back(fmt::format("C{}", unnestIndex++));
+    } else {
+      VELOX_FAIL(
+          "Unexpected type of unnest variable. Expected ARRAY or MAP, but got {}.", variable->type()->toString());
+    }
+  }
+
   auto node = std::make_shared<core::UnnestNode>(
       nextPlanNodeId(), replicated, unnest, std::move(unnestNames), std::nullopt, childNode);