diff --git a/substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.hosted/src/com/oracle/svm/hosted/NativeImageGenerator.java b/substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.hosted/src/com/oracle/svm/hosted/NativeImageGenerator.java
index c4929b54fe6d..fed1bc14e5f7 100644
--- a/substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.hosted/src/com/oracle/svm/hosted/NativeImageGenerator.java
+++ b/substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.hosted/src/com/oracle/svm/hosted/NativeImageGenerator.java
@@ -1101,7 +1101,9 @@ protected void setupNativeImage(String imageName, OptionValues options, Map<Meth
                                 new SubstrateClassInitializationPlugin((SVMHost) aUniverse.hostVM()), this.isStubBasedPluginsSupported(), aProviders);
 
                 loader.classLoaderSupport.getClassesToIncludeUnconditionally().forEach(cls -> bb.registerTypeForBaseImage(cls));
-                PreserveOptionsSupport.registerPreservedClasses(loader.classLoaderSupport);
+                if (loader.classLoaderSupport.isPreserveMode()) {
+                    PreserveOptionsSupport.registerPreservedClasses(loader.classLoaderSupport);
+                }
 
                 registerEntryPointStubs(entryPoints);
             }
diff --git a/substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.hosted/src/com/oracle/svm/hosted/image/PreserveOptionsSupport.java b/substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.hosted/src/com/oracle/svm/hosted/image/PreserveOptionsSupport.java
index 1e0eb80398b2..d303aa7d1f6d 100644
--- a/substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.hosted/src/com/oracle/svm/hosted/image/PreserveOptionsSupport.java
+++ b/substratevm/src/com.oracle.svm.hosted/src/com/oracle/svm/hosted/image/PreserveOptionsSupport.java
@@ -150,7 +150,6 @@ public static void registerPreservedClasses(NativeImageClassLoaderSupport classL
                         .toList();
 
         final RuntimeReflectionSupport reflection = ImageSingletons.lookup(RuntimeReflectionSupport.class);
-        final RuntimeJNIAccessSupport jni = ImageSingletons.lookup(RuntimeJNIAccessSupport.class);
         final RuntimeProxyCreationSupport proxy = ImageSingletons.lookup(RuntimeProxyCreationSupport.class);
         final ConfigurationCondition always = ConfigurationCondition.alwaysTrue();
 
@@ -178,20 +177,29 @@ public static void registerPreservedClasses(NativeImageClassLoaderSupport classL
                 proxy.addProxyClass(always, c);
             }
 
-            jni.register(ConfigurationCondition.alwaysTrue(), c);
             try {
-                for (Method declaredMethod : c.getDeclaredMethods()) {
-                    jni.register(always, false, declaredMethod);
-                }
-                for (Constructor<?> declaredConstructor : c.getDeclaredConstructors()) {
-                    jni.register(always, false, declaredConstructor);
-                }
                 for (Field declaredField : c.getDeclaredFields()) {
-                    jni.register(always, false, declaredField);
                     reflection.register(always, false, declaredField);
                 }
             } catch (LinkageError e) {
-                /* If we can't link we can not register for JNI and reflection */
+                /* If we can't link we can not register for reflection */
+            }
+            if (SubstrateOptions.JNI.getValue()) {
+                final RuntimeJNIAccessSupport jni = ImageSingletons.lookup(RuntimeJNIAccessSupport.class);
+                jni.register(always, c);
+                try {
+                    for (Method declaredMethod : c.getDeclaredMethods()) {
+                        jni.register(always, false, declaredMethod);
+                    }
+                    for (Constructor<?> declaredConstructor : c.getDeclaredConstructors()) {
+                        jni.register(always, false, declaredConstructor);
+                    }
+                    for (Field declaredField : c.getDeclaredFields()) {
+                        jni.register(always, false, declaredField);
+                    }
+                } catch (LinkageError e) {
+                    /* If we can't link we can not register for JNI and reflection */
+                }
             }
 
             // if we register as unsafe allocated earlier there are build-time