diff --git a/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lang/var/UseVarForObject.java b/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lang/var/UseVarForObject.java
index f91c98ce0b..f067c58d39 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lang/var/UseVarForObject.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lang/var/UseVarForObject.java
@@ -75,7 +75,8 @@ public J.VariableDeclarations visitVariableDeclarations(J.VariableDeclarations v
             boolean isPrimitive = DeclarationCheck.isPrimitive(vd);
             boolean usesGenerics = DeclarationCheck.useGenerics(vd);
             boolean usesTernary = DeclarationCheck.initializedByTernary(vd);
-            if (isPrimitive || usesGenerics || usesTernary) {
+            boolean usesArrayInitializer = vd.getVariables().get(0).getInitializer() instanceof J.NewArray;
+            if (isPrimitive || usesGenerics || usesTernary || usesArrayInitializer) {
                 return vd;
             }
 
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lang/var/UseVarForObjectsTest.java b/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lang/var/UseVarForObjectsTest.java
index c1e31ebd8d..852e42424f 100644
--- a/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lang/var/UseVarForObjectsTest.java
+++ b/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/java/migrate/lang/var/UseVarForObjectsTest.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Nested;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import org.openrewrite.DocumentExample;
+import org.openrewrite.Issue;
 import org.openrewrite.test.RecipeSpec;
 
 import static org.openrewrite.java.Assertions.*;
@@ -59,6 +60,7 @@ void m() {
             );
         }
 
+
         @Test
         void reassignment() {
             //language=java
@@ -310,6 +312,25 @@ void m() {
 
     @Nested
     class NotApplicable {
+
+        @Test
+        @Issue("https://github.com/openrewrite/rewrite-migrate-java/issues/551")
+        void arrayInitializer() {
+            //language=java
+            rewriteRun(
+              java(
+                """
+                  package com.example.app;
+                  
+                  class A {
+                    void m() {
+                        String[] dictionary = {"aa", "b", "aba", "ba"};
+                    }
+                  }
+                  """)
+            );
+        }
+
         @Test
         void fieldInAnonymousSubclass() {
             //language=java