diff --git a/sdks/java/extensions/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/extensions/avro/io/AvroDatumFactory.java b/sdks/java/extensions/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/extensions/avro/io/AvroDatumFactory.java
index 55c6e266e279..67125a6ad24d 100644
--- a/sdks/java/extensions/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/extensions/avro/io/AvroDatumFactory.java
+++ b/sdks/java/extensions/avro/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/extensions/avro/io/AvroDatumFactory.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 import org.apache.avro.generic.GenericRecord;
 import org.apache.avro.io.DatumReader;
 import org.apache.avro.io.DatumWriter;
+import org.apache.avro.reflect.ReflectData;
 import org.apache.avro.reflect.ReflectDatumReader;
 import org.apache.avro.reflect.ReflectDatumWriter;
 import org.apache.avro.specific.SpecificDatumReader;
@@ -33,6 +34,9 @@
 import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.Nullable;
 
 /** Create {@link DatumReader} and {@link DatumWriter} for given schemas. */
+@SuppressWarnings({
+  "nullness" // TODO(https://github.com/apache/beam/issues/20497)
+})
 public abstract class AvroDatumFactory<T>
     implements AvroSource.DatumReaderFactory<T>, AvroSink.DatumWriterFactory<T> {
 
@@ -168,25 +172,16 @@ public ReflectDatumFactory(Class<T> type) {
 
     @Override
     public DatumReader<T> apply(Schema writer, Schema reader) {
-      // create the datum writer using the Class<T> api.
-      // avro will load the proper class loader
-      ReflectDatumReader<T> datumReader = new ReflectDatumReader<>(type);
-      datumReader.setExpected(reader);
-      datumReader.setSchema(writer);
-      // for backward compat, add logical type support by default
-      AvroUtils.addLogicalTypeConversions(datumReader.getData());
-      return datumReader;
+      ReflectData data = new ReflectData(type.getClassLoader());
+      AvroUtils.addLogicalTypeConversions(data);
+      return new ReflectDatumReader<>(writer, reader, data);
     }
 
     @Override
     public DatumWriter<T> apply(Schema writer) {
-      // create the datum writer using the Class<T> api.
-      // avro will load the proper class loader
-      ReflectDatumWriter<T> datumWriter = new ReflectDatumWriter<>(type);
-      datumWriter.setSchema(writer);
-      // for backward compat, add logical type support by default
-      AvroUtils.addLogicalTypeConversions(datumWriter.getData());
-      return datumWriter;
+      ReflectData data = new ReflectData(type.getClassLoader());
+      AvroUtils.addLogicalTypeConversions(data);
+      return new ReflectDatumWriter<>(writer, data);
     }
 
     public static <T> ReflectDatumFactory<T> of(Class<T> type) {