diff --git a/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/ImageIOProcessor.java b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/ImageIOProcessor.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a29dc88920fc1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/deployment/ImageIOProcessor.java
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package io.quarkus.deployment;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
+import io.quarkus.deployment.annotations.BuildStep;
+import io.quarkus.deployment.builditem.nativeimage.RuntimeInitializedClassBuildItem;
+import io.quarkus.deployment.pkg.steps.NativeBuild;
+
+public class ImageIOProcessor {
+
+    @BuildStep(onlyIf = NativeBuild.class)
+    List<RuntimeInitializedClassBuildItem> runtimeInitImageIOClasses() {
+        // The following classes hold instances of java.awt.color.ICC_ColorSpace that are not allowed in the image
+        // heap as this class should be initialized at image runtime
+        // (See https://github.com/quarkusio/quarkus/issues/12535)
+        return Arrays.asList(
+                new RuntimeInitializedClassBuildItem("javax.imageio.ImageTypeSpecifier"),
+                new RuntimeInitializedClassBuildItem("com.sun.imageio.plugins.jpeg.JPEG$JCS"));
+    }
+}