diff --git a/packages/SystemUI/plugin_core/Android.bp b/packages/SystemUI/plugin_core/Android.bp
index 34d31d9955fc1..4e39f1ac95450 100644
--- a/packages/SystemUI/plugin_core/Android.bp
+++ b/packages/SystemUI/plugin_core/Android.bp
@@ -25,6 +25,9 @@ java_library {
     sdk_version: "current",
     name: "PluginCoreLib",
     srcs: ["src/**/*.java"],
+    optimize: {
+        proguard_flags_files: ["proguard.flags"],
+    },
 
     // Enforce that the library is built against java 8 so that there are
     // no compatibility issues with launcher
diff --git a/packages/SystemUI/plugin_core/proguard.flags b/packages/SystemUI/plugin_core/proguard.flags
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..6240898b3b93f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/SystemUI/plugin_core/proguard.flags
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+# R8's full mode is a bit more aggressive in stripping annotations, but the
+# SystemUI plugin architecture requires these annotations at runtime. The
+# following rules are the minimal set necessary to ensure compatibility.
+# For more details, see:
+# https://r8.googlesource.com/r8/+/refs/heads/master/compatibility-faq.md#r8-full-mode
+-keepattributes RuntimeVisible*Annotation*,AnnotationDefault
+
+-keep interface com.android.systemui.plugins.annotations.** {
+    *;
+}
+-keep,allowshrinking,allowoptimization,allowobfuscation,allowaccessmodification @com.android.systemui.plugins.annotations.** class *