diff --git a/services/java/com/android/server/SystemServer.java b/services/java/com/android/server/SystemServer.java
index 6b45ba2ae8aa8..5b9460a226bb9 100644
--- a/services/java/com/android/server/SystemServer.java
+++ b/services/java/com/android/server/SystemServer.java
@@ -1052,6 +1052,17 @@ public final class SystemServer implements Dumpable {
     private void startBootstrapServices(@NonNull TimingsTraceAndSlog t) {
         t.traceBegin("startBootstrapServices");
 
+        t.traceBegin("ArtModuleServiceInitializer");
+        // This needs to happen before DexUseManagerLocal init. We do it here to avoid colliding
+        // with a GC. ArtModuleServiceInitializer is a class from a separate dex file
+        // "service-art.jar", so referencing it involves the class linker. The class linker and the
+        // GC are mutually exclusive (b/263486535). Therefore, we do this here to force trigger the
+        // class linker earlier. If we did this later, especially after PackageManagerService init,
+        // the class linker would be consistently blocked by a GC because PackageManagerService
+        // allocates a lot of memory and almost certainly triggers a GC.
+        ArtModuleServiceInitializer.setArtModuleServiceManager(new ArtModuleServiceManager());
+        t.traceEnd();
+
         // Start the watchdog as early as possible so we can crash the system server
         // if we deadlock during early boot
         t.traceBegin("StartWatchdog");
@@ -1238,8 +1249,6 @@ public final class SystemServer implements Dumpable {
         t.traceBegin("DexUseManagerLocal");
         // DexUseManagerLocal needs to be loaded after PackageManagerLocal has been registered, but
         // before PackageManagerService starts processing binder calls to notifyDexLoad.
-        // DexUseManagerLocal may also call artd, so ensure ArtModuleServiceManager is instantiated.
-        ArtModuleServiceInitializer.setArtModuleServiceManager(new ArtModuleServiceManager());
         LocalManagerRegistry.addManager(
                 DexUseManagerLocal.class, DexUseManagerLocal.createInstance());
         t.traceEnd();