diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index f8041b0c90..3d928d5bff 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 
 	<groupId>org.springframework.data</groupId>
 	<artifactId>spring-data-commons</artifactId>
-	<version>4.0.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+	<version>4.0.x-GH-3387-SNAPSHOT</version>
 
 	<name>Spring Data Core</name>
 	<description>Core Spring concepts underpinning every Spring Data module.</description>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/aot/DefaultAotContext.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/aot/DefaultAotContext.java
index 9231471213..ff4d797d17 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/aot/DefaultAotContext.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/aot/DefaultAotContext.java
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class DefaultAotContext implements AotContext {
 
 	private final Map<Class<?>, ContextualTypeConfiguration> typeConfigurations = new HashMap<>();
 	private final Environment environment;
-	private final ReflectiveRuntimeHintsRegistrar runtimeHintsRegistrar = new ReflectiveRuntimeHintsRegistrar();
+	private final ReflectiveRuntimeHintsRegistrar reflectiveRuntimeHintsRegistrar = new ReflectiveRuntimeHintsRegistrar();
 
 	public DefaultAotContext(BeanFactory beanFactory, Environment environment) {
 		this(beanFactory, environment, new AotMappingContext());
@@ -250,6 +250,9 @@ private void doContribute(Environment environment, GenerationContext generationC
 						categories.toArray(MemberCategory[]::new));
 			}
 
+			// check types for presence of @Reflective annotation
+			reflectiveRuntimeHintsRegistrar.registerRuntimeHints(generationContext.getRuntimeHints(), type);
+
 			if (contributeAccessors) {
 
 				AccessorContributionConfiguration configuration = AccessorContributionConfiguration.of(environment);
@@ -259,7 +262,6 @@ private void doContribute(Environment environment, GenerationContext generationC
 			}
 
 			if (forDataBinding) {
-				runtimeHintsRegistrar.registerRuntimeHints(generationContext.getRuntimeHints(), type);
 				TypeContributor.contribute(type, Set.of(TypeContributor.DATA_NAMESPACE), generationContext);
 			}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/util/TypeContributor.java b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/util/TypeContributor.java
index c7781dd7ac..98c61bc7d7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/util/TypeContributor.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/springframework/data/util/TypeContributor.java
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@
 
 import org.springframework.aot.generate.GenerationContext;
 import org.springframework.aot.hint.BindingReflectionHintsRegistrar;
-import org.springframework.aot.hint.MemberCategory;
+import org.springframework.aot.hint.annotation.ReflectiveRuntimeHintsRegistrar;
 import org.springframework.core.annotation.MergedAnnotation;
 
 /**
@@ -32,7 +32,8 @@
 public class TypeContributor {
 
 	public static final String DATA_NAMESPACE = "org.springframework.data";
-	public static final BindingReflectionHintsRegistrar REGISTRAR = new BindingReflectionHintsRegistrar();
+	public static final BindingReflectionHintsRegistrar DATA_BINDING_REGISTRAR = new BindingReflectionHintsRegistrar();
+	public static final ReflectiveRuntimeHintsRegistrar REFLECTIVE_REGISTRAR = new ReflectiveRuntimeHintsRegistrar();
 
 	/**
 	 * Contribute the type with default reflection configuration, skip annotations.
@@ -67,7 +68,8 @@ public static void contribute(Class<?> type, Predicate<Class<? extends Annotatio
 			return;
 		}
 
-		REGISTRAR.registerReflectionHints(contribution.getRuntimeHints().reflection(), type);
+		DATA_BINDING_REGISTRAR.registerReflectionHints(contribution.getRuntimeHints().reflection(), type);
+		REFLECTIVE_REGISTRAR.registerRuntimeHints(contribution.getRuntimeHints(), type);
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/aot/DefaultAotContextUnitTests.java b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/aot/DefaultAotContextUnitTests.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..af951c1923
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/test/java/org/springframework/data/aot/DefaultAotContextUnitTests.java
@@ -0,0 +1,148 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2025 the original author or authors.
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.springframework.data.aot;
+
+import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
+import static org.springframework.aot.hint.predicate.RuntimeHintsPredicates.reflection;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.mockito.Mock;
+import org.mockito.junit.jupiter.MockitoSettings;
+import org.springframework.aot.hint.MemberCategory;
+import org.springframework.aot.hint.annotation.Reflective;
+import org.springframework.aot.test.generate.TestGenerationContext;
+import org.springframework.beans.factory.BeanFactory;
+import org.springframework.mock.env.MockEnvironment;
+
+/**
+ * Unit tests targeting {@link DefaultAotContext};
+ *
+ * @author Christoph Strobl
+ */
+@MockitoSettings(strictness = org.mockito.quality.Strictness.LENIENT)
+public class DefaultAotContextUnitTests {
+
+	@Mock BeanFactory beanFactory;
+
+	@Mock AotMappingContext mappingContext;
+
+	MockEnvironment mockEnvironment = new MockEnvironment();
+
+	@Test // GH-3387
+	void doesNotRegisterReflectionWhenThereIsNothingToRegister() {
+
+		DefaultAotContext context = new DefaultAotContext(beanFactory, mockEnvironment, mappingContext);
+		context.typeConfiguration(Dummy.class, it -> {
+			// no specific action
+		});
+
+		TestGenerationContext generationContext = new TestGenerationContext();
+		context.contributeTypeConfigurations(generationContext);
+
+		assertThat(generationContext.getRuntimeHints()).matches(reflection().onType(Dummy.class).negate());
+	}
+
+	@Test // GH-3387
+	void doesNotRegisterReflectionWithCategoryAccordingly() {
+
+		DefaultAotContext context = new DefaultAotContext(beanFactory, mockEnvironment, mappingContext);
+		context.typeConfiguration(Dummy.class, it -> it.forReflectiveAccess(MemberCategory.ACCESS_DECLARED_FIELDS));
+
+		TestGenerationContext generationContext = new TestGenerationContext();
+		context.contributeTypeConfigurations(generationContext);
+
+		assertThat(generationContext.getRuntimeHints())
+				.matches(reflection().onType(Dummy.class).withAnyMemberCategory(MemberCategory.ACCESS_DECLARED_FIELDS));
+	}
+
+	@Test // GH-3387
+	void registerReflectionIfThereIsAnAtReflectiveAnnotation() throws NoSuchMethodException {
+
+		DefaultAotContext context = new DefaultAotContext(beanFactory, mockEnvironment, mappingContext);
+		context.typeConfiguration(DummyWithAtReflective.class, it -> {
+
+		});
+
+		TestGenerationContext generationContext = new TestGenerationContext();
+		context.contributeTypeConfigurations(generationContext);
+
+		assertThat(generationContext.getRuntimeHints())
+				.matches(reflection().onMethodInvocation(DummyWithAtReflective.class.getMethod("reflectiveAnnotated")))
+				.matches(reflection().onMethodInvocation(DummyWithAtReflective.class.getMethod("getValue")).negate())
+				.matches(reflection().onMethodInvocation(DummyWithAtReflective.class.getMethod("justAMethod")).negate());
+	}
+
+	@Test // GH-3387
+	void registerReflectionForGetterSetterIfDataBindingRequested() throws NoSuchMethodException {
+
+		DefaultAotContext context = new DefaultAotContext(beanFactory, mockEnvironment, mappingContext);
+		context.typeConfiguration(DummyWithAtReflective.class, AotTypeConfiguration::forDataBinding);
+
+		TestGenerationContext generationContext = new TestGenerationContext();
+		context.contributeTypeConfigurations(generationContext);
+
+		assertThat(generationContext.getRuntimeHints())
+				.matches(reflection().onMethodInvocation(DummyWithAtReflective.class.getMethod("reflectiveAnnotated")))
+				.matches(reflection().onMethodInvocation(DummyWithAtReflective.class.getMethod("getValue")))
+				.matches(reflection().onMethodInvocation(DummyWithAtReflective.class.getMethod("justAMethod")).negate());
+	}
+
+	@Test // GH-3387
+	void registerReflectionIfThereIsAnAtReflectiveAnnotationInTheSuperType() throws NoSuchMethodException {
+		DefaultAotContext context = new DefaultAotContext(beanFactory, mockEnvironment, mappingContext);
+		context.typeConfiguration(ExtendingDummyWithAtReflective.class, it -> {
+
+		});
+
+		TestGenerationContext generationContext = new TestGenerationContext();
+		context.contributeTypeConfigurations(generationContext);
+
+		assertThat(generationContext.getRuntimeHints())
+				.matches(reflection().onMethodInvocation(DummyWithAtReflective.class.getMethod("reflectiveAnnotated")))
+				.matches(reflection().onMethodInvocation(DummyWithAtReflective.class.getMethod("justAMethod")).negate())
+				.matches(reflection().onMethodInvocation(DummyWithAtReflective.class.getMethod("getValue")).negate());
+	}
+
+	static class Dummy {
+
+		String value;
+
+		public List<String> justAMethod() {
+			return null;
+		}
+
+		public String getValue() {
+			return value;
+		}
+
+		public void setValue(String value) {
+			this.value = value;
+		}
+	}
+
+	static class DummyWithAtReflective extends Dummy {
+
+		@Reflective
+		public List<String> reflectiveAnnotated() {
+			return null;
+		}
+	}
+
+	static class ExtendingDummyWithAtReflective extends DummyWithAtReflective {}
+
+}