diff --git a/runners/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/flink/FlinkJobInvoker.java b/runners/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/flink/FlinkJobInvoker.java
index 35b32385fee9..6d113f40b5ea 100644
--- a/runners/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/flink/FlinkJobInvoker.java
+++ b/runners/flink/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/flink/FlinkJobInvoker.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@
  */
 package org.apache.beam.runners.flink;
 
-import static org.apache.beam.sdk.util.Preconditions.checkStateNotNull;
 import static org.apache.beam.sdk.util.construction.resources.PipelineResources.detectClassPathResourcesToStage;
 
 import java.util.UUID;
@@ -32,10 +31,14 @@
 import org.apache.beam.vendor.grpc.v1p69p0.com.google.protobuf.Struct;
 import org.apache.beam.vendor.guava.v32_1_2_jre.com.google.common.base.Strings;
 import org.apache.beam.vendor.guava.v32_1_2_jre.com.google.common.util.concurrent.ListeningExecutorService;
+import org.checkerframework.checker.nullness.qual.Nullable;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
 /** Job Invoker for the {@link FlinkRunner}. */
+@SuppressWarnings({
+  "nullness" // TODO(https://github.com/apache/beam/issues/20497)
+})
 public class FlinkJobInvoker extends JobInvoker {
   private static final Logger LOG = LoggerFactory.getLogger(FlinkJobInvoker.class);
 
@@ -54,7 +57,7 @@ protected FlinkJobInvoker(FlinkJobServerDriver.FlinkServerConfiguration serverCo
   protected JobInvocation invokeWithExecutor(
       RunnerApi.Pipeline pipeline,
       Struct options,
-      String retrievalToken,
+      @Nullable String retrievalToken,
       ListeningExecutorService executorService) {
 
     // TODO: How to make Java/Python agree on names of keys and their values?
@@ -71,22 +74,20 @@ protected JobInvocation invokeWithExecutor(
 
     PortablePipelineOptions portableOptions = flinkOptions.as(PortablePipelineOptions.class);
 
-    ClassLoader thisClassLoader =
-        checkStateNotNull(
-            FlinkJobInvoker.class.getClassLoader(),
-            "FlinkJobInvoker class loader is null - this means it was loaded by the bootstrap classloader, which should be impossible");
-
     PortablePipelineRunner pipelineRunner;
     if (Strings.isNullOrEmpty(portableOptions.getOutputExecutablePath())) {
       pipelineRunner =
           new FlinkPipelineRunner(
               flinkOptions,
               serverConfig.getFlinkConfDir(),
-              detectClassPathResourcesToStage(thisClassLoader, flinkOptions));
+              detectClassPathResourcesToStage(
+                  FlinkJobInvoker.class.getClassLoader(), flinkOptions));
     } else {
       pipelineRunner = new PortablePipelineJarCreator(FlinkPipelineRunner.class);
     }
 
+    flinkOptions.setRunner(null);
+
     LOG.info("Invoking job {} with pipeline runner {}", invocationId, pipelineRunner);
     return createJobInvocation(
         invocationId, retrievalToken, executorService, pipeline, flinkOptions, pipelineRunner);
diff --git a/runners/java-job-service/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/jobsubmission/JobInvoker.java b/runners/java-job-service/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/jobsubmission/JobInvoker.java
index 6a5a051705e1..815a39b16113 100644
--- a/runners/java-job-service/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/jobsubmission/JobInvoker.java
+++ b/runners/java-job-service/src/main/java/org/apache/beam/runners/jobsubmission/JobInvoker.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
 import java.util.concurrent.ThreadFactory;
+import javax.annotation.Nullable;
 import org.apache.beam.model.pipeline.v1.RunnerApi;
 import org.apache.beam.vendor.grpc.v1p69p0.com.google.protobuf.Struct;
 import org.apache.beam.vendor.guava.v32_1_2_jre.com.google.common.util.concurrent.ListeningExecutorService;
@@ -38,11 +39,11 @@ public abstract class JobInvoker {
   protected abstract JobInvocation invokeWithExecutor(
       RunnerApi.Pipeline pipeline,
       Struct options,
-      String retrievalToken,
+      @Nullable String retrievalToken,
       ListeningExecutorService executorService)
       throws IOException;
 
-  JobInvocation invoke(RunnerApi.Pipeline pipeline, Struct options, String retrievalToken)
+  JobInvocation invoke(RunnerApi.Pipeline pipeline, Struct options, @Nullable String retrievalToken)
       throws IOException {
     return invokeWithExecutor(pipeline, options, retrievalToken, this.executorService);
   }