diff --git a/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x b/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x
index a421560c6f..6560f0767a 100644
--- a/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x
+++ b/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x
@@ -1544,6 +1544,10 @@ Gili Tzabari (cowwoc@github)
   * Reported #3063: `@JsonValue` fails for Java Record
   (2.14.2)
 
+Yury Molchan (yurkom@github)
+  * Contributed #4121: Preserve the original component type in merging to an array
+  (2.14.4)
+
 Joo Hyuk Kim (JooHyukKim@github)
   * Contributed #2536: Add `EnumFeature.READ_ENUM_KEYS_USING_INDEX` to work with
     existing "WRITE_ENUM_KEYS_USING_INDEX"
@@ -1638,5 +1642,3 @@ Antti Lampinen (arlampin@github)
   * Reported #3897: 2.15.0 breaks deserialization when POJO/Record only has a single field
     and is marked `Access.WRITE_ONLY`
    (2.15.1)
-
-
diff --git a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
index d4ea245e5c..e86ef804b8 100644
--- a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
+++ b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
@@ -8,6 +8,8 @@ Project: jackson-databind
 
 #3968: Records with additional constructors failed to deserialize
  (fix contributed by Sim Y-T)
+#4121: Preserve the original component type in merging to an array
+ (contributed by Yury M)
 
 2.15.2 (30-May-2023)
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/ObjectArrayDeserializer.java b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/ObjectArrayDeserializer.java
index 904f8bc0a7..f92b46effd 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/ObjectArrayDeserializer.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/std/ObjectArrayDeserializer.java
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.lang.reflect.Array;
+import java.util.Arrays;
 import java.util.Objects;
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.annotation.JsonFormat;
@@ -258,8 +259,7 @@ public Object[] deserialize(JsonParser p, DeserializationContext ctxt,
                 return intoValue;
             }
             final int offset = intoValue.length;
-            Object[] result = new Object[offset + arr.length];
-            System.arraycopy(intoValue, 0, result, 0, offset);
+            Object[] result = Arrays.copyOf(intoValue, offset + arr.length);
             System.arraycopy(arr, 0, result, offset, arr.length);
             return result;
         }
diff --git a/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/merge/ArrayMergeTest.java b/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/merge/ArrayMergeTest.java
index ede4212122..1a4d47e095 100644
--- a/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/merge/ArrayMergeTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/databind/deser/merge/ArrayMergeTest.java
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 
 import com.fasterxml.jackson.databind.*;
 
+import java.util.Date;
+
 public class ArrayMergeTest extends BaseMapTest
 {
     static class MergedX<T>
@@ -20,6 +22,13 @@ static class MergedX<T>
         protected MergedX() { }
     }
 
+    // [databind#4121]
+    static class Merged4121
+    {
+        @JsonMerge(OptBoolean.TRUE)
+        public Date[] value;
+    }
+
     /*
     /********************************************************
     /* Test methods
@@ -57,6 +66,31 @@ public void testObjectArrayMerging() throws Exception
         assertEquals("zap", result.value[2]);
     }
 
+    // [databind#4121]
+    public void testComponentTypeArrayMerging() throws Exception
+    {
+        Merged4121 input = new Merged4121();
+        input.value = new Date[] {new Date(1000L)};
+        Merged4121 result = MAPPER.readerFor(Merged4121.class)
+                .withValueToUpdate(input)
+                .readValue(a2q("{'value':[2000]}"));
+        assertSame(input, result);
+        assertEquals(2, result.value.length);
+        assertEquals(1000L, result.value[0].getTime());
+        assertEquals(2000L, result.value[1].getTime());
+
+        // and with one trick
+        result = MAPPER.readerFor(Merged4121.class)
+                .with(DeserializationFeature.ACCEPT_SINGLE_VALUE_AS_ARRAY)
+                .withValueToUpdate(input)
+                .readValue(a2q("{'value':3000}"));
+        assertSame(input, result);
+        assertEquals(3, result.value.length);
+        assertEquals(1000L, result.value[0].getTime());
+        assertEquals(2000L, result.value[1].getTime());
+        assertEquals(3000L, result.value[2].getTime());
+    }
+
     public void testStringArrayMerging() throws Exception
     {
         MergedX<String[]> input = new MergedX<String[]>(new String[] { "foo" });