diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/authentication/client/KerberosAuthenticator.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/authentication/client/KerberosAuthenticator.java
index 30e65efe10cba..260b865aca761 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/authentication/client/KerberosAuthenticator.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/authentication/client/KerberosAuthenticator.java
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.security.authentication.server.HttpConstants;
 import org.apache.hadoop.security.authentication.util.AuthToken;
 import org.apache.hadoop.security.authentication.util.KerberosUtil;
+import org.apache.hadoop.util.subject.SubjectAdapter;
 import org.ietf.jgss.GSSContext;
 import org.ietf.jgss.GSSManager;
 import org.ietf.jgss.GSSName;
@@ -35,8 +36,6 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.net.HttpURLConnection;
 import java.net.URL;
-import java.security.AccessControlContext;
-import java.security.AccessController;
 import java.security.PrivilegedActionException;
 import java.security.PrivilegedExceptionAction;
 import java.util.HashMap;
@@ -300,8 +299,7 @@ private boolean isNegotiate(HttpURLConnection conn) throws IOException {
   private void doSpnegoSequence(final AuthenticatedURL.Token token)
       throws IOException, AuthenticationException {
     try {
-      AccessControlContext context = AccessController.getContext();
-      Subject subject = Subject.getSubject(context);
+      Subject subject = SubjectAdapter.getSubject();
       if (subject == null
           || (!KerberosUtil.hasKerberosKeyTab(subject)
               && !KerberosUtil.hasKerberosTicket(subject))) {
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/ClassicSubjectAdapter.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/ClassicSubjectAdapter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1ab4801c85eab
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/ClassicSubjectAdapter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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
+ *
+ *     http://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.apache.hadoop.util.subject;
+
+import javax.security.auth.Subject;
+import java.security.AccessControlContext;
+import java.security.AccessController;
+
+/**
+ * Calls Subject methods directly, as this class should not be classloaded on Java 18 and above
+ */
+class ClassicSubjectAdapter implements HiddenSubjectAdapter {
+
+    ClassicSubjectAdapter() {}
+
+    @Override
+    public Subject getSubject() {
+        final AccessControlContext context = AccessController.getContext();
+        return Subject.getSubject(context);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/HiddenSubjectAdapter.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/HiddenSubjectAdapter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..e71c5f8357d6c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/HiddenSubjectAdapter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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
+ *
+ *     http://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.apache.hadoop.util.subject;
+
+import javax.security.auth.Subject;
+
+public interface HiddenSubjectAdapter {
+    Subject getSubject();
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/SubjectAdapter.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/SubjectAdapter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..552ef8af8f6c4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/SubjectAdapter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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
+ *
+ *     http://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.apache.hadoop.util.subject;
+
+import javax.security.auth.Subject;
+
+/**
+ * javax.security.auth.Subject.getSubject is deprecated for removal.
+ * The replacement API exists only in Java 18 and above.
+ * This class helps use the newer API if available, without raising the language level.
+ */
+public class SubjectAdapter {
+    private static final HiddenSubjectAdapter instance;
+    static {
+        int version = 0;
+        try {
+            version = Integer.parseInt(System.getProperty("java.specification.version"));
+        } catch (Throwable ignored) {}
+        if (version >= 18) {
+            instance = new SubjectAdapterJava18AndAbove();
+        } else {
+            instance = new ClassicSubjectAdapter();
+        }
+    }
+
+    private SubjectAdapter() {}
+
+    public static Subject getSubject() {
+        return instance.getSubject();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/SubjectAdapterJava18AndAbove.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/SubjectAdapterJava18AndAbove.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..1d20535101005
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/SubjectAdapterJava18AndAbove.java
@@ -0,0 +1,48 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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
+ *
+ *     http://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.apache.hadoop.util.subject;
+
+import javax.security.auth.Subject;
+import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
+import java.lang.reflect.Method;
+
+/**
+ * Indirectly calls Subject.current(), which exists in Java 18 and above only
+ */
+class SubjectAdapterJava18AndAbove implements HiddenSubjectAdapter {
+    private final Method currentMethod;
+
+    SubjectAdapterJava18AndAbove() {
+        try {
+            currentMethod = Subject.class.getMethod("current");
+        } catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
+            throw new RuntimeException("Unable to find javax.security.auth.Subject.current() method", e);
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public Subject getSubject() {
+        try {
+            return (Subject) currentMethod.invoke(null);
+        } catch (IllegalAccessException | InvocationTargetException e) {
+            // we would return null, but null has meaning here
+            throw new RuntimeException("Unable to call Subject.current()", e);
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/TestSubjectAdapter.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/TestSubjectAdapter.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..a94e992fd95f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-auth/src/test/java/org/apache/hadoop/util/subject/TestSubjectAdapter.java
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+/**
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
+ * or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
+ * distributed with this work for additional information
+ * regarding copyright ownership.  The ASF licenses this file
+ * to you 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
+ *
+ *     http://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.apache.hadoop.util.subject;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertDoesNotThrow;
+
+class TestSubjectAdapter {
+
+    @Test
+    void getSubject() {
+        // how getSubject operates depends on the JVM calling it.
+        // asserting that it does not throw is a valid test, especially on Java 18 and above
+        // prior to Java 18, this method is just a simple wrapper
+        assertDoesNotThrow(() -> SubjectAdapter.getSubject());
+    }
+}
diff --git a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/UserGroupInformation.java b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/UserGroupInformation.java
index 305e5e10af305..fa4803ab62951 100644
--- a/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/UserGroupInformation.java
+++ b/hadoop-common-project/hadoop-common/src/main/java/org/apache/hadoop/security/UserGroupInformation.java
@@ -33,8 +33,6 @@
 import java.io.File;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.lang.reflect.UndeclaredThrowableException;
-import java.security.AccessControlContext;
-import java.security.AccessController;
 import java.security.Principal;
 import java.security.PrivilegedAction;
 import java.security.PrivilegedActionException;
@@ -90,6 +88,7 @@
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.Shell;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.StringUtils;
 import org.apache.hadoop.util.Time;
+import org.apache.hadoop.util.subject.SubjectAdapter;
 
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -585,8 +584,7 @@ public boolean hasKerberosCredentials() {
   @InterfaceStability.Evolving
   public static UserGroupInformation getCurrentUser() throws IOException {
     ensureInitialized();
-    AccessControlContext context = AccessController.getContext();
-    Subject subject = Subject.getSubject(context);
+    Subject subject = SubjectAdapter.getSubject();
     if (subject == null || subject.getPrincipals(User.class).isEmpty()) {
       return getLoginUser();
     } else {