diff --git a/extensions/netty/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/deployment/NettyProcessor.java b/extensions/netty/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/deployment/NettyProcessor.java
index af581cf6e7a29..486d25a6c224e 100644
--- a/extensions/netty/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/deployment/NettyProcessor.java
+++ b/extensions/netty/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/deployment/NettyProcessor.java
@@ -23,10 +23,12 @@
 import io.quarkus.deployment.builditem.nativeimage.NativeImageConfigBuildItem;
 import io.quarkus.deployment.builditem.nativeimage.NativeImageSystemPropertyBuildItem;
 import io.quarkus.deployment.builditem.nativeimage.ReflectiveClassBuildItem;
+import io.quarkus.deployment.builditem.nativeimage.RuntimeInitializedClassBuildItem;
 import io.quarkus.deployment.builditem.nativeimage.RuntimeReinitializedClassBuildItem;
 import io.quarkus.deployment.builditem.nativeimage.UnsafeAccessedFieldBuildItem;
 import io.quarkus.netty.BossEventLoopGroup;
 import io.quarkus.netty.MainEventLoopGroup;
+import io.quarkus.netty.runtime.EmptyByteBufStub;
 import io.quarkus.netty.runtime.NettyRecorder;
 
 class NettyProcessor {
@@ -218,4 +220,10 @@ public List<UnsafeAccessedFieldBuildItem> unsafeAccessedFields() {
                 new UnsafeAccessedFieldBuildItem("sun.nio.ch.SelectorImpl", "selectedKeys"),
                 new UnsafeAccessedFieldBuildItem("sun.nio.ch.SelectorImpl", "publicSelectedKeys"));
     }
+
+    @BuildStep
+    RuntimeInitializedClassBuildItem runtimeInitBcryptUtil() {
+        // this holds a direct allocated byte buffer that needs to be initialised at run time
+        return new RuntimeInitializedClassBuildItem(EmptyByteBufStub.class.getName());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/extensions/netty/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/runtime/EmptyByteBufStub.java b/extensions/netty/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/runtime/EmptyByteBufStub.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..8a0ec95a3cdca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/extensions/netty/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/runtime/EmptyByteBufStub.java
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+package io.quarkus.netty.runtime;
+
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
+
+import io.netty.util.internal.PlatformDependent;
+
+public final class EmptyByteBufStub {
+    private static final ByteBuffer EMPTY_BYTE_BUFFER = ByteBuffer.allocateDirect(0);
+    private static final long EMPTY_BYTE_BUFFER_ADDRESS;
+
+    static {
+        long emptyByteBufferAddress = 0;
+        try {
+            if (PlatformDependent.hasUnsafe()) {
+                emptyByteBufferAddress = PlatformDependent.directBufferAddress(EMPTY_BYTE_BUFFER);
+            }
+        } catch (Throwable t) {
+            // Ignore
+        }
+        EMPTY_BYTE_BUFFER_ADDRESS = emptyByteBufferAddress;
+    }
+
+    public static ByteBuffer emptyByteBuffer() {
+        return EMPTY_BYTE_BUFFER;
+    }
+
+    public static long emptyByteBufferAddress() {
+        return EMPTY_BYTE_BUFFER_ADDRESS;
+    }
+
+    private EmptyByteBufStub() {
+    }
+}
diff --git a/extensions/netty/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/runtime/graal/NettySubstitutions.java b/extensions/netty/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/runtime/graal/NettySubstitutions.java
index 298966b37ec11..bb629e7d0c268 100644
--- a/extensions/netty/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/runtime/graal/NettySubstitutions.java
+++ b/extensions/netty/runtime/src/main/java/io/quarkus/netty/runtime/graal/NettySubstitutions.java
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 package io.quarkus.netty.runtime.graal;
 
+import java.nio.ByteBuffer;
 import java.security.PrivateKey;
 import java.security.Provider;
 import java.security.cert.X509Certificate;
@@ -35,6 +36,7 @@
 import io.netty.util.concurrent.GlobalEventExecutor;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.InternalLoggerFactory;
 import io.netty.util.internal.logging.JdkLoggerFactory;
+import io.quarkus.netty.runtime.EmptyByteBufStub;
 
 /**
  * This substitution avoid having loggers added to the build
@@ -389,6 +391,48 @@ static Class<?> tryToLoadClass(final ClassLoader loader, final Class<?> helper)
 
 }
 
+@TargetClass(className = "io.netty.buffer.EmptyByteBuf")
+final class Target_io_netty_buffer_EmptyByteBuf {
+
+    @Alias
+    @RecomputeFieldValue(kind = RecomputeFieldValue.Kind.Reset)
+    private static ByteBuffer EMPTY_BYTE_BUFFER;
+
+    @Alias
+    @RecomputeFieldValue(kind = RecomputeFieldValue.Kind.Reset)
+    private static long EMPTY_BYTE_BUFFER_ADDRESS;
+
+    @Substitute
+    public ByteBuffer nioBuffer() {
+        return EmptyByteBufStub.emptyByteBuffer();
+    }
+
+    @Substitute
+    public ByteBuffer[] nioBuffers() {
+        return new ByteBuffer[] { EmptyByteBufStub.emptyByteBuffer() };
+    }
+
+    @Substitute
+    public ByteBuffer internalNioBuffer(int index, int length) {
+        return EmptyByteBufStub.emptyByteBuffer();
+    }
+
+    @Substitute
+    public boolean hasMemoryAddress() {
+        return EmptyByteBufStub.emptyByteBufferAddress() != 0;
+    }
+
+    @Substitute
+    public long memoryAddress() {
+        if (hasMemoryAddress()) {
+            return EmptyByteBufStub.emptyByteBufferAddress();
+        } else {
+            throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+        }
+    }
+
+}
+
 class NettySubstitutions {
 
 }