diff --git a/extensions/arc/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/deployment/StartupBuildSteps.java b/extensions/arc/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/deployment/StartupBuildSteps.java
index 8261d2e093c54..d215861b37a5b 100644
--- a/extensions/arc/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/deployment/StartupBuildSteps.java
+++ b/extensions/arc/deployment/src/main/java/io/quarkus/arc/deployment/StartupBuildSteps.java
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 package io.quarkus.arc.deployment;
 
-import javax.enterprise.context.ApplicationScoped;
 import javax.enterprise.context.spi.Contextual;
 import javax.enterprise.context.spi.CreationalContext;
 
@@ -18,8 +17,6 @@
 import io.quarkus.arc.deployment.ObserverRegistrationPhaseBuildItem.ObserverConfiguratorBuildItem;
 import io.quarkus.arc.impl.CreationalContextImpl;
 import io.quarkus.arc.processor.AnnotationStore;
-import io.quarkus.arc.processor.Annotations;
-import io.quarkus.arc.processor.AnnotationsTransformer;
 import io.quarkus.arc.processor.BeanInfo;
 import io.quarkus.arc.processor.BuildExtension;
 import io.quarkus.arc.processor.BuiltinScope;
@@ -51,26 +48,13 @@ public class StartupBuildSteps {
     private static final Logger LOGGER = Logger.getLogger(StartupBuildSteps.class);
 
     @BuildStep
-    AnnotationsTransformerBuildItem annotationTransformer(CustomScopeAnnotationsBuildItem customScopes) {
-        return new AnnotationsTransformerBuildItem(new AnnotationsTransformer() {
-
-            @Override
-            public boolean appliesTo(org.jboss.jandex.AnnotationTarget.Kind kind) {
-                return kind == org.jboss.jandex.AnnotationTarget.Kind.CLASS;
-            }
-
-            @Override
-            public void transform(TransformationContext context) {
-                if (context.isClass() && !customScopes.isScopeDeclaredOn(context.getTarget().asClass())) {
-                    // Class with no built-in scope annotation but with @Scheduled method
-                    if (Annotations.contains(context.getTarget().asClass().classAnnotations(), STARTUP_NAME)) {
-                        LOGGER.debugf("Found @Startup on a class %s with no scope annotations - adding @ApplicationScoped",
-                                context.getTarget());
-                        context.transform().add(ApplicationScoped.class).done();
-                    }
-                }
-            }
-        });
+    AutoAddScopeBuildItem addScope(CustomScopeAnnotationsBuildItem customScopes) {
+        // Class with no built-in scope annotation but with @Startup method
+        return AutoAddScopeBuildItem.builder()
+                .defaultScope(BuiltinScope.APPLICATION)
+                .isAnnotatedWith(STARTUP_NAME)
+                .reason("Found classes containing @Startup annotation.")
+                .build();
     }
 
     @BuildStep