diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/BUILD b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/BUILD
index 4feb336d92689b..1bf62ab6bf67f7 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/BUILD
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/BUILD
@@ -1678,6 +1678,7 @@ java_library(
     deps = [
         ":config/fragment_options",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/cmdline",
+        "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/serialization:visible-for-serialization",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/serialization/autocodec",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/skyframe/serialization/autocodec:serialization-constant",
         "//src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/util",
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/config/BuildOptions.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/config/BuildOptions.java
index c616868d8f8ffc..ea8eb19d28087a 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/config/BuildOptions.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/analysis/config/BuildOptions.java
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.skyframe.serialization.LeafObjectCodec;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.skyframe.serialization.SerializationDependencyProvider;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.skyframe.serialization.SerializationException;
+import com.google.devtools.build.lib.skyframe.serialization.VisibleForSerialization;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.skyframe.serialization.autocodec.SerializationConstant;
 import com.google.devtools.build.lib.util.Fingerprint;
 import com.google.devtools.common.options.OptionDefinition;
@@ -464,8 +465,20 @@ public BuildOptions build() {
     private Builder() {}
   }
 
-  @SuppressWarnings("unused") // Used reflectively.
-  private static final class Codec extends LeafObjectCodec<BuildOptions> {
+  /**
+   * Codec for {@link BuildOptions}.
+   *
+   * <p>This codec works by serializing the {@link BuildOptions#checksum} only. This works due to
+   * the assumption that anytime a value containing a particular configuration is deserialized, it
+   * was previously requested using the same configuration key, thus priming the cache.
+   */
+  @VisibleForSerialization
+  public static final class Codec extends LeafObjectCodec<BuildOptions> {
+    private static final Codec INSTANCE = new Codec();
+
+    public static Codec buildOptionsCodec() {
+      return INSTANCE;
+    }
 
     @Override
     public Class<BuildOptions> getEncodedClass() {