diff --git a/core/android_soong_config_vars.mk b/core/android_soong_config_vars.mk
index 7bea3059f4..cd42e1f545 100644
--- a/core/android_soong_config_vars.mk
+++ b/core/android_soong_config_vars.mk
@@ -99,3 +99,7 @@ endif
 ifeq (true,$(MODULE_BUILD_FROM_SOURCE))
 $(call add_soong_config_var_value,ANDROID,module_build_from_source,true)
 endif
+
+# TODO(b/196084106): Remove when Java optimizations enabled by default for
+# system packages.
+$(call add_soong_config_var,ANDROID,SYSTEM_OPTIMIZE_JAVA)