diff --git a/sdks/java/core/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/coders/AvroCoder.java b/sdks/java/core/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/coders/AvroCoder.java
index b236783..8d43fdd 100644
--- a/sdks/java/core/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/coders/AvroCoder.java
+++ b/sdks/java/core/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/coders/AvroCoder.java
@@ -117,9 +117,19 @@
    * @param <T> the element type
    */
   public static <T> AvroCoder<T> of(TypeDescriptor<T> type) {
+    return of(type, true);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Returns an {@code AvroCoder} instance for the provided element type, respecting whether to use
+   * Avro's Reflect* or Specific* suite for encoding and decoding.
+   *
+   * @param <T> the element type
+   */
+  public static <T> AvroCoder<T> of(TypeDescriptor<T> type, boolean useReflectApi) {
     @SuppressWarnings("unchecked")
     Class<T> clazz = (Class<T>) type.getRawType();
-    return of(clazz);
+    return of(clazz, useReflectApi);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -128,7 +138,7 @@
    * @param <T> the element type
    */
   public static <T> AvroCoder<T> of(Class<T> clazz) {
-    return of(clazz, false);
+    return of(clazz, true);
   }
 
   /**
@@ -140,8 +150,8 @@
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns an {@code AvroCoder} instance for the given class using Avro's Reflection API for
-   * encoding and decoding.
+   * Returns an {@code AvroCoder} instance for the given class, respecting whether to use Avro's
+   * Reflect* or Specific* suite for encoding and decoding.
    *
    * @param <T> the element type
    */
@@ -158,12 +168,12 @@
    * @param <T> the element type
    */
   public static <T> AvroCoder<T> of(Class<T> type, Schema schema) {
-    return of(type, schema, false);
+    return of(type, schema, true);
   }
 
   /**
-   * Returns an {@code AvroCoder} instance for the given class and schema using Avro's Reflection
-   * API for encoding and decoding.
+   * Returns an {@code AvroCoder} instance for the given class and schema, respecting whether to use
+   * Avro's Reflect* or Specific* suite for encoding and decoding.
    *
    * @param <T> the element type
    */
diff --git a/sdks/java/core/src/test/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/coders/AvroCoderTest.java b/sdks/java/core/src/test/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/coders/AvroCoderTest.java
index d7886c3..9443aad 100644
--- a/sdks/java/core/src/test/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/coders/AvroCoderTest.java
+++ b/sdks/java/core/src/test/java/org/apache/beam/sdk/coders/AvroCoderTest.java
@@ -323,7 +323,8 @@
 
   @Test
   public void testSpecificRecordEncoding() throws Exception {
-    AvroCoder<TestAvro> coder = AvroCoder.of(TestAvro.class, AVRO_SPECIFIC_RECORD.getSchema());
+    AvroCoder<TestAvro> coder =
+        AvroCoder.of(TestAvro.class, AVRO_SPECIFIC_RECORD.getSchema(), false);
 
     assertTrue(SpecificRecord.class.isAssignableFrom(coder.getType()));
     CoderProperties.coderDecodeEncodeEqual(coder, AVRO_SPECIFIC_RECORD);
@@ -415,8 +416,8 @@
   }
 
   @Test
-  public void testAvroReflectCoderIsSerializable() throws Exception {
-    AvroCoder<Pojo> coder = AvroCoder.of(Pojo.class, true);
+  public void testAvroSpecificCoderIsSerializable() throws Exception {
+    AvroCoder<Pojo> coder = AvroCoder.of(Pojo.class, false);
 
     // Check that the coder is serializable using the regular JSON approach.
     SerializableUtils.ensureSerializable(coder);