diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryAndroid.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryAndroid.java
index 0d249f73790..f27259fd635 100644
--- a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryAndroid.java
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryAndroid.java
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 import io.sentry.IScopes;
 import io.sentry.ISentryLifecycleToken;
 import io.sentry.Integration;
-import io.sentry.OptionsContainer;
 import io.sentry.Sentry;
 import io.sentry.SentryLevel;
 import io.sentry.SentryOptions;
@@ -98,7 +97,7 @@ public static void init(
       @NotNull Sentry.OptionsConfiguration<SentryAndroidOptions> configuration) {
     try (final @NotNull ISentryLifecycleToken ignored = staticLock.acquire()) {
       Sentry.init(
-          OptionsContainer.create(SentryAndroidOptions.class),
+          new SentryAndroidOptionsContainer(),
           options -> {
             final io.sentry.util.LoadClass classLoader = new io.sentry.util.LoadClass();
             final boolean isTimberUpstreamAvailable =
diff --git a/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryAndroidOptionsContainer.java b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryAndroidOptionsContainer.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..678f7ab29b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/sentry-android-core/src/main/java/io/sentry/android/core/SentryAndroidOptionsContainer.java
@@ -0,0 +1,16 @@
+package io.sentry.android.core;
+
+import io.sentry.OptionsContainer;
+import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
+
+/**
+ * Direct OptionsContainer for SentryAndroidOptions that avoids reflective
+ * getDeclaredConstructor().newInstance() on the Android startup path.
+ */
+final class SentryAndroidOptionsContainer extends OptionsContainer<SentryAndroidOptions> {
+
+  @Override
+  public @NotNull SentryAndroidOptions createInstance() {
+    return new SentryAndroidOptions();
+  }
+}
diff --git a/sentry/api/sentry.api b/sentry/api/sentry.api
index 4757be4894a..45268a9a894 100644
--- a/sentry/api/sentry.api
+++ b/sentry/api/sentry.api
@@ -2068,7 +2068,8 @@ public abstract interface class io/sentry/ObjectWriter {
 	public abstract fun value (Z)Lio/sentry/ObjectWriter;
 }
 
-public final class io/sentry/OptionsContainer {
+public class io/sentry/OptionsContainer {
+	protected fun <init> ()V
 	public static fun create (Ljava/lang/Class;)Lio/sentry/OptionsContainer;
 	public fun createInstance ()Ljava/lang/Object;
 }
diff --git a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/OptionsContainer.java b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/OptionsContainer.java
index 52032880aaf..b29aef2e000 100644
--- a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/OptionsContainer.java
+++ b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/OptionsContainer.java
@@ -1,28 +1,40 @@
 package io.sentry;
 
+import com.jakewharton.nopen.annotation.Open;
+import io.sentry.util.Objects;
 import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.ApiStatus;
 import org.jetbrains.annotations.NotNull;
+import org.jetbrains.annotations.Nullable;
 
 @ApiStatus.Internal
-public final class OptionsContainer<T> {
+@Open
+public class OptionsContainer<T> {
 
   public @NotNull static <T> OptionsContainer<T> create(final @NotNull Class<T> clazz) {
     return new OptionsContainer<>(clazz);
   }
 
-  private final @NotNull Class<T> clazz;
+  private final @Nullable Class<T> clazz;
 
   private OptionsContainer(final @NotNull Class<T> clazz) {
     super();
     this.clazz = clazz;
   }
 
+  /** Constructor for subclasses that create the instance directly without reflection. */
+  protected OptionsContainer() {
+    super();
+    this.clazz = null;
+  }
+
   public @NotNull T createInstance()
       throws InstantiationException,
           IllegalAccessException,
           NoSuchMethodException,
           InvocationTargetException {
-    return clazz.getDeclaredConstructor().newInstance();
+    return Objects.requireNonNull(clazz, "OptionsContainer clazz is required")
+        .getDeclaredConstructor()
+        .newInstance();
   }
 }
diff --git a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/util/Platform.java b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/util/Platform.java
index b08b6e584fb..1f7cbeb2206 100644
--- a/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/util/Platform.java
+++ b/sentry/src/main/java/io/sentry/util/Platform.java
@@ -20,16 +20,21 @@ public final class Platform {
       isAndroid = false;
     }
 
-    try {
-      final @Nullable String javaStringVersion = System.getProperty("java.specification.version");
-      if (javaStringVersion != null) {
-        final @NotNull double javaVersion = Double.valueOf(javaStringVersion);
-        isJavaNinePlus = javaVersion >= 9.0;
-      } else {
+    if (isAndroid) {
+      // Android is never Java 9+, skip the system property lookup + parse on the startup path.
+      isJavaNinePlus = false;
+    } else {
+      try {
+        final @Nullable String javaStringVersion = System.getProperty("java.specification.version");
+        if (javaStringVersion != null) {
+          final @NotNull double javaVersion = Double.valueOf(javaStringVersion);
+          isJavaNinePlus = javaVersion >= 9.0;
+        } else {
+          isJavaNinePlus = false;
+        }
+      } catch (Throwable e) {
         isJavaNinePlus = false;
       }
-    } catch (Throwable e) {
-      isJavaNinePlus = false;
     }
   }