This has been fixed for the simpler case (Map.Entry) where the import or reference is for an inner class.

This still fails for references to inner-inner classes (inner classes of inner classes). The workaround for that case is to import the inner class and use qualified references to the inner-inner class.

So if you have

class Outer {
   class Inner {
      class MostInner {}
   }
}

This will not work

import Outer.Inner.MostInner // fails here
MostInner foobar = null

This will work

import Outer.Inner
Inner.MostInner foobar = null

As announced on the Gradle blog we are planning to completely migrate issues from JIRA to GitHub.

We intend to prioritize issues that are actionable and impactful while working more closely with the community. Many of our JIRA issues are inactionable or irrelevant. We would like to request your help to ensure we can appropriately prioritize JIRA issues you’ve contributed to.

Please confirm that you still advocate for your JIRA issue before December 10th, 2016 by:

• Checking that your issues contain requisite context, impact, behaviors, and examples as described in our published guidelines.
• Leave a comment on the JIRA issue or open a new GitHub issue confirming that the above is complete.

We look forward to collaborating with you more closely on GitHub. Thank you for your contribution to Gradle!

Thanks again for reporting this issue. We haven't heard back from you after our inquiry from November 15th. We are closing this issue now. Please create an issue on GitHub if you still feel passionate about getting it resolved.