diff --git a/sdk/trace-shaded-deps/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/internal/JcTools.java b/sdk/trace-shaded-deps/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/internal/JcTools.java
index a293c437aff..e099432ea3b 100644
--- a/sdk/trace-shaded-deps/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/internal/JcTools.java
+++ b/sdk/trace-shaded-deps/src/main/java/io/opentelemetry/sdk/trace/internal/JcTools.java
@@ -28,9 +28,28 @@ public static <T> Queue<T> newFixedSizeQueue(int capacity) {
     } catch (java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError e) {
       // Happens when modules such as jdk.unsupported are disabled in a custom JRE distribution
       return new ArrayBlockingQueue<>(capacity);
+    } catch (java.lang.ExceptionInInitializerError e) {
+      if (isSunMiscAccessProhibited(e)) {
+        return new ArrayBlockingQueue<>(capacity);
+      } else {
+        throw e;
+      }
     }
   }
 
+  private static boolean isSunMiscAccessProhibited(Throwable t) {
+    String rootCause = rootCause(t).getMessage();
+    return rootCause != null && rootCause.contains("accessClassInPackage.sun.misc");
+  }
+
+  public static Throwable rootCause(Throwable throwable) {
+    Throwable c = throwable;
+    while (c.getCause() != null && c.getCause() != c) {
+      c = c.getCause();
+    }
+    return c;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Returns the capacity of the {@link Queue}. We cast to the implementation so callers do not need
    * to use the shaded classes.