diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/SuppressJava6Requirement.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/SuppressJava6Requirement.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..557d0095a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/SuppressJava6Requirement.java
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2018 The Netty Project
+ *
+ * The Netty Project 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 io.netty.util.internal;
+
+import java.lang.annotation.ElementType;
+import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
+import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
+import java.lang.annotation.Target;
+
+/**
+ * Annotation to suppress the Java 6 source code requirement checks for a method.
+ */
+@Retention(RetentionPolicy.CLASS)
+@Target({ ElementType.METHOD })
+public @interface SuppressJava6Requirement {
+
+    String reason();
+}
diff --git a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/ThrowableUtil.java b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/ThrowableUtil.java
index 4c1cf8fdd5..de336b7e3c 100644
--- a/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/ThrowableUtil.java
+++ b/common/src/main/java/io/netty/util/internal/ThrowableUtil.java
@@ -18,26 +18,10 @@ package io.netty.util.internal;
 import java.io.ByteArrayOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.PrintStream;
-import java.lang.reflect.InvocationTargetException;
-import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.util.List;
 
 public final class ThrowableUtil {
 
-    private static final Method addSupressedMethod = getAddSuppressed();
-
-    private static Method getAddSuppressed() {
-        if (PlatformDependent.javaVersion() < 7) {
-            return null;
-        }
-        try {
-            // addSuppressed is final, so we only need to look it up on Throwable.
-            return Throwable.class.getDeclaredMethod("addSuppressed", Throwable.class);
-        } catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException(e);
-        }
-    }
-
     private ThrowableUtil() { }
 
     /**
@@ -71,20 +55,15 @@ public final class ThrowableUtil {
     }
 
     public static boolean haveSuppressed() {
-        return addSupressedMethod != null;
+        return PlatformDependent.javaVersion() >= 7;
     }
 
+    @SuppressJava6Requirement(reason = "Throwable addSuppressed is only available for >= 7. Has check for < 7.")
     public static void addSuppressed(Throwable target, Throwable suppressed) {
         if (!haveSuppressed()) {
             return;
         }
-        try {
-            addSupressedMethod.invoke(target, suppressed);
-        } catch (IllegalAccessException e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException(e);
-        } catch (InvocationTargetException e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException(e);
-        }
+        target.addSuppressed(suppressed);
     }
 
     public static void addSuppressedAndClear(Throwable target, List<Throwable> suppressed) {
diff --git a/common/src/test/java/io/netty/util/internal/NativeLibraryLoaderTest.java b/common/src/test/java/io/netty/util/internal/NativeLibraryLoaderTest.java
index 0a40fb85b5..de73b9ecf5 100644
--- a/common/src/test/java/io/netty/util/internal/NativeLibraryLoaderTest.java
+++ b/common/src/test/java/io/netty/util/internal/NativeLibraryLoaderTest.java
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ package io.netty.util.internal;
 
 import org.junit.Test;
 
-import java.lang.reflect.Method;
 import java.io.FileNotFoundException;
 import java.util.UUID;
 
@@ -26,8 +25,6 @@ import static org.junit.Assert.fail;
 
 public class NativeLibraryLoaderTest {
 
-    private static final Method getSupressedMethod = getGetSuppressed();
-
     @Test
     public void testFileNotFound() {
         try {
@@ -35,7 +32,7 @@ public class NativeLibraryLoaderTest {
             fail();
         } catch (UnsatisfiedLinkError error) {
             assertTrue(error.getCause() instanceof FileNotFoundException);
-            if (getSupressedMethod != null) {
+            if (PlatformDependent.javaVersion() >= 7) {
                 verifySuppressedException(error, UnsatisfiedLinkError.class);
             }
         }
@@ -48,34 +45,24 @@ public class NativeLibraryLoaderTest {
             fail();
         } catch (UnsatisfiedLinkError error) {
             assertTrue(error.getCause() instanceof FileNotFoundException);
-            if (getSupressedMethod != null) {
+            if (PlatformDependent.javaVersion() >= 7) {
                 verifySuppressedException(error, ClassNotFoundException.class);
             }
         }
     }
 
+    @SuppressJava6Requirement(reason = "uses Java 7+ Throwable#getSuppressed but is guarded by version checks")
     private static void verifySuppressedException(UnsatisfiedLinkError error,
             Class<?> expectedSuppressedExceptionClass) {
         try {
-            Throwable[] suppressed = (Throwable[]) getSupressedMethod.invoke(error.getCause());
+            Throwable[] suppressed = error.getCause().getSuppressed();
             assertTrue(suppressed.length == 1);
             assertTrue(suppressed[0] instanceof UnsatisfiedLinkError);
-            suppressed = (Throwable[]) getSupressedMethod.invoke(suppressed[0]);
+            suppressed = (suppressed[0]).getSuppressed();
             assertTrue(suppressed.length == 1);
             assertTrue(expectedSuppressedExceptionClass.isInstance(suppressed[0]));
         } catch (Exception e) {
             throw new RuntimeException(e);
         }
     }
-
-    private static Method getGetSuppressed() {
-        if (PlatformDependent.javaVersion() < 7) {
-            return null;
-        }
-        try {
-            return Throwable.class.getDeclaredMethod("getSuppressed");
-        } catch (NoSuchMethodException e) {
-            throw new RuntimeException(e);
-        }
-    }
 }
diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 9d217cce3c..a4936d8610 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -721,6 +721,9 @@
             <ignore>java.nio.file.Path</ignore>
             <ignore>java.io.File</ignore>
           </ignores>
+          <annotations>
+            <annotation>io.netty.util.internal.SuppressJava6Requirement</annotation>
+          </annotations>
         </configuration>
         <executions>
           <execution>