diff --git a/build.gradle b/build.gradle
index 65e6a69dbca5f..f9de5d1f17619 100644
--- a/build.gradle
+++ b/build.gradle
@@ -419,6 +419,22 @@ subprojects {
         "-Xlint:constant",
         "-Xlint:unused"
       ]
+
+      // Inline more aggressively when compiling the `core` jar since it's not meant to be used as a library.
+      // More specifically, inline classes from the Scala library so that we can inline methods like `Option.exists`
+      // and avoid lambda allocations. This is only safe if the Scala library version is the same at compile time
+      // and runtime. We cannot guarantee this for libraries like kafka streams, so only inline classes from the
+      // Kafka project in that case.
+      List<String> inlineFrom
+      if (project.name.equals('core'))
+        inlineFrom = ["-opt-inline-from:scala.**", "-opt-inline-from:kafka.**", "-opt-inline-from:org.apache.kafka.**"]
+      else
+        inlineFrom = ["-opt-inline-from:org.apache.kafka.**"]
+
+      // Somewhat confusingly, `-opt:l:inline` enables all optimizations. `inlineFrom` configures what can be inlined.
+      // See https://www.lightbend.com/blog/scala-inliner-optimizer for more information about the optimizer.
+      scalaCompileOptions.additionalParameters += ["-opt:l:inline"]
+      scalaCompileOptions.additionalParameters += inlineFrom
     }
     
   // these options are valid for Scala versions < 2.13 only
diff --git a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/log/AbstractIndex.scala b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/log/AbstractIndex.scala
index 242d0745302bc..7dca8120c3d5b 100644
--- a/core/src/main/scala/kafka/log/AbstractIndex.scala
+++ b/core/src/main/scala/kafka/log/AbstractIndex.scala
@@ -405,8 +405,8 @@ abstract class AbstractIndex[K, V](@volatile var file: File, val baseOffset: Lon
 
   private def compareIndexEntry(indexEntry: IndexEntry, target: Long, searchEntity: IndexSearchEntity): Int = {
     searchEntity match {
-      case IndexSearchType.KEY => indexEntry.indexKey.compareTo(target)
-      case IndexSearchType.VALUE => indexEntry.indexValue.compareTo(target)
+      case IndexSearchType.KEY => java.lang.Long.compare(indexEntry.indexKey, target)
+      case IndexSearchType.VALUE => java.lang.Long.compare(indexEntry.indexValue, target)
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/gradle/spotbugs-exclude.xml b/gradle/spotbugs-exclude.xml
index 07ca2b450e753..70ea5b0682a65 100644
--- a/gradle/spotbugs-exclude.xml
+++ b/gradle/spotbugs-exclude.xml
@@ -104,10 +104,8 @@ For a detailed description of spotbugs bug categories, see https://spotbugs.read
     </Match>
 
     <Match>
-        <!-- Suppression for the equals() for extensiom methods. -->
-        <Or>
-            <Class name="kafka.api.package$ElectLeadersRequestOps"/>
-        </Or>
+        <!-- Suppression for the equals() for extension methods. -->
+        <Class name="kafka.api.package$ElectLeadersRequestOps"/>
         <Bug pattern="EQ_UNUSUAL"/>
     </Match>
 
@@ -118,6 +116,59 @@ For a detailed description of spotbugs bug categories, see https://spotbugs.read
         <Bug pattern="BC_VACUOUS_INSTANCEOF"/>
     </Match>
 
+    <Match>
+        <!-- A spurious null check after inlining by the scalac optimizer confuses spotBugs -->
+        <Class name="kafka.log.Log"/>
+        <Bug pattern="NP_NULL_ON_SOME_PATH_EXCEPTION"/>
+    </Match>
+
+    <Match>
+        <!-- A spurious null check after inlining by the scalac optimizer confuses spotBugs -->
+        <Class name="kafka.tools.StateChangeLogMerger$"/>
+        <Bug pattern="NP_NULL_ON_SOME_PATH_FROM_RETURN_VALUE"/>
+    </Match>
+
+    <Match>
+        <!-- Unboxing to Int to make scalac happy makes spotBugs unhappy -->
+        <Class name="kafka.tools.ConsoleConsumer$ConsumerConfig"/>
+        <Bug pattern="BX_UNBOXING_IMMEDIATELY_REBOXED"/>
+    </Match>
+
+    <Match>
+        <!-- Uncallable anonymous methods are left behind after inlining by scalac 2.12, fixed in 2.13 -->
+        <Source name="AdminUtils.scala"/>
+        <Package name="kafka.admin"/>
+        <Bug pattern="UMAC_UNCALLABLE_METHOD_OF_ANONYMOUS_CLASS"/>
+    </Match>
+
+    <Match>
+        <!-- Uncallable anonymous methods are left behind after inlining by scalac 2.12, fixed in 2.13 -->
+        <Source name="ControllerContext.scala"/>
+        <Package name="kafka.controller"/>
+        <Bug pattern="UMAC_UNCALLABLE_METHOD_OF_ANONYMOUS_CLASS"/>
+    </Match>
+
+    <Match>
+        <!-- Uncallable anonymous methods are left behind after inlining by scalac 2.12, fixed in 2.13 -->
+        <Source name="LogManager.scala"/>
+        <Package name="kafka.log"/>
+        <Bug pattern="UMAC_UNCALLABLE_METHOD_OF_ANONYMOUS_CLASS"/>
+    </Match>
+
+    <Match>
+        <!-- Uncallable anonymous methods are left behind after inlining by scalac 2.12, fixed in 2.13 -->
+        <Source name="DelayedElectLeader.scala"/>
+        <Package name="kafka.server"/>
+        <Bug pattern="UMAC_UNCALLABLE_METHOD_OF_ANONYMOUS_CLASS"/>
+    </Match>
+
+    <Match>
+        <!-- Uncallable anonymous methods are left behind after inlining by scalac 2.12, fixed in 2.13 -->
+        <Source name="AdminZkClient.scala"/>
+        <Package name="kafka.zk"/>
+        <Bug pattern="UMAC_UNCALLABLE_METHOD_OF_ANONYMOUS_CLASS"/>
+    </Match>
+
     <Match>
         <!-- Suppress a warning about some static initializers in Schema using instances of a
              subclass. -->