diff --git a/baseline-error-prone/src/main/java/com/palantir/baseline/errorprone/ClassInitializationDeadlock.java b/baseline-error-prone/src/main/java/com/palantir/baseline/errorprone/ClassInitializationDeadlock.java
index b473902de..2b6308315 100644
--- a/baseline-error-prone/src/main/java/com/palantir/baseline/errorprone/ClassInitializationDeadlock.java
+++ b/baseline-error-prone/src/main/java/com/palantir/baseline/errorprone/ClassInitializationDeadlock.java
@@ -190,7 +190,10 @@ public Void visitMemberSelect(MemberSelectTree node, VisitorState state) {
             if (symbol != null && symbol.isStatic() && symbol instanceof VarSymbol) {
                 VarSymbol varSymbol = (VarSymbol) symbol;
                 // Constant values may be accessed without forcing initialization
-                if (varSymbol.getConstValue() == null && isSubtype(varSymbol.owner.type, baseType, state)) {
+                if (varSymbol.getConstValue() == null
+                        && isSubtype(varSymbol.owner.type, baseType, state)
+                        // .class access does not force class initialization
+                        && !varSymbol.name.contentEquals("class")) {
                     state.reportMatch(describeMatch(node));
                     return null;
                 }
diff --git a/baseline-error-prone/src/test/java/com/palantir/baseline/errorprone/ClassInitializationDeadlockTest.java b/baseline-error-prone/src/test/java/com/palantir/baseline/errorprone/ClassInitializationDeadlockTest.java
index dda66f9f2..d28649021 100644
--- a/baseline-error-prone/src/test/java/com/palantir/baseline/errorprone/ClassInitializationDeadlockTest.java
+++ b/baseline-error-prone/src/test/java/com/palantir/baseline/errorprone/ClassInitializationDeadlockTest.java
@@ -16,6 +16,8 @@
 
 package com.palantir.baseline.errorprone;
 
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+
 import com.google.errorprone.CompilationTestHelper;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 
@@ -280,6 +282,39 @@ void testStaticFieldAnonymousSubtypeAllowed() {
                 .doTest();
     }
 
+    @Test
+    @SuppressWarnings("ObjectToString")
+    void testClassAccessIsAllowed() {
+        assertThat(initializationTestClassInitialized)
+                .as("InitializationTestClass has already been initialized")
+                .isFalse();
+        assertThat(InitializationTestClass.class).isNotNull();
+        assertThat(initializationTestClassInitialized)
+                .as(".class access does not force initialization")
+                .isFalse();
+        new InitializationTestClass();
+        assertThat(initializationTestClassInitialized)
+                .as("Instantiation initializes classes")
+                .isTrue();
+
+        helper().addSourceLines(
+                        "Base.java",
+                        "import java.util.Optional;",
+                        "class Base {",
+                        "  private static final Object VALUE = Sub.class;",
+                        "  static class Sub extends Base {}",
+                        "}")
+                .doTest();
+    }
+
+    private static volatile boolean initializationTestClassInitialized;
+
+    public static final class InitializationTestClass {
+        static {
+            initializationTestClassInitialized = true;
+        }
+    }
+
     private CompilationTestHelper helper() {
         return CompilationTestHelper.newInstance(ClassInitializationDeadlock.class, getClass());
     }
diff --git a/changelog/@unreleased/pr-1654.v2.yml b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-1654.v2.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c9dcbfe6e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/changelog/@unreleased/pr-1654.v2.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+type: fix
+fix:
+  description: Fix false positive ClassInitializationDeadlock on `.class` access
+  links:
+  - https://github.com/palantir/gradle-baseline/pull/1654