diff --git a/src/java.xml/share/classes/jdk/xml/internal/JdkXmlUtils.java b/src/java.xml/share/classes/jdk/xml/internal/JdkXmlUtils.java
index 47c68173d84..1654c1b6cd5 100644
--- a/src/java.xml/share/classes/jdk/xml/internal/JdkXmlUtils.java
+++ b/src/java.xml/share/classes/jdk/xml/internal/JdkXmlUtils.java
@@ -94,7 +94,9 @@ public class JdkXmlUtils {
     /**
      * The system-default factory
      */
-    private static final SAXParserFactory defaultSAXFactory = getSAXFactory(false);
+    private static class DefaultSAXFactory {
+        private static final SAXParserFactory instance = getSAXFactory(false);
+    }
 
     /**
      * Returns the value.
@@ -322,7 +324,7 @@ public class JdkXmlUtils {
             }
         } else {
             // use the system-default
-            saxFactory = defaultSAXFactory;
+            saxFactory = DefaultSAXFactory.instance;
 
             try {
             reader = saxFactory.newSAXParser().getXMLReader();
diff --git a/test/jdk/javax/xml/jaxp/common/8323740/InitializerTest.java b/test/jdk/javax/xml/jaxp/common/8323740/InitializerTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..3cf685331b1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/jdk/javax/xml/jaxp/common/8323740/InitializerTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,42 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright (c) 2024, Google LLC. All rights reserved.
+ * DO NOT ALTER OR REMOVE COPYRIGHT NOTICES OR THIS FILE HEADER.
+ *
+ * This code is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it
+ * under the terms of the GNU General Public License version 2 only, as
+ * published by the Free Software Foundation.
+ *
+ * This code is distributed in the hope that it will be useful, but WITHOUT
+ * ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of MERCHANTABILITY or
+ * FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the GNU General Public License
+ * version 2 for more details (a copy is included in the LICENSE file that
+ * accompanied this code).
+ *
+ * You should have received a copy of the GNU General Public License version
+ * 2 along with this work; if not, write to the Free Software Foundation,
+ * Inc., 51 Franklin St, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
+ *
+ * Please contact Oracle, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood Shores, CA 94065 USA
+ * or visit www.oracle.com if you need additional information or have any
+ * questions.
+ */
+
+import org.testng.annotations.Test;
+
+import java.util.Objects;
+
+/**
+ * @test
+ *
+ * @bug 8323740
+ * @summary test that class initializers don't crash
+ * @run testng/othervm InitializerTest
+ */
+public class InitializerTest {
+
+    @Test
+    public void testXMLOutputFactory() throws Exception {
+        String name = "com.sun.org.apache.xerces.internal.impl.XMLDocumentFragmentScannerImpl";
+        Objects.requireNonNull(Class.forName(name));
+    }
+}