diff --git a/android/capacitor/proguard-rules.pro b/android/capacitor/proguard-rules.pro
index 96db065b3..4fe4e3f2e 100644
--- a/android/capacitor/proguard-rules.pro
+++ b/android/capacitor/proguard-rules.pro
@@ -15,11 +15,18 @@
 
  -keep public class * extends com.getcapacitor.Plugin { *; }
 
+# The annotation types are read at runtime via reflection. If they are not kept, R8 full mode
+# treats them as never instantiated and optimizes the annotation cached in PluginHandle to null,
+# even with -keepattributes *Annotation*.
+-keep @interface com.getcapacitor.annotation.** { *; }
+-keep @interface com.getcapacitor.PluginMethod { *; }
+
 # Rules for Capacitor v2 plugins and annotations
 # These are deprecated but can still be used with Capacitor for now
 -keep @com.getcapacitor.NativePlugin public class * {
   @com.getcapacitor.PluginMethod public <methods>;
 }
+-keep @interface com.getcapacitor.NativePlugin { *; }
 
 # Rules for Cordova plugins
 -keep public class * extends org.apache.cordova.* {