diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/pom.xml b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/pom.xml
index 9ef8c9cc84..cb3d81a582 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/pom.xml
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/pom.xml
@@ -86,11 +86,6 @@
 			<artifactId>reactor-netty</artifactId>
 			<optional>true</optional>
 		</dependency>
-		<dependency>
-			<groupId>io.projectreactor</groupId>
-			<artifactId>reactor-tools</artifactId>
-			<optional>true</optional>
-		</dependency>
 		<dependency>
 			<groupId>io.netty</groupId>
 			<artifactId>netty-tcnative-boringssl-static</artifactId>
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/reactor/DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessor.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/reactor/DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessor.java
index 4a2c8ba17a..c7daad6af3 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/reactor/DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessor.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/main/java/org/springframework/boot/reactor/DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessor.java
@@ -16,8 +16,6 @@
 
 package org.springframework.boot.reactor;
 
-import reactor.tools.agent.ReactorDebugAgent;
-
 import org.springframework.boot.SpringApplication;
 import org.springframework.boot.env.EnvironmentPostProcessor;
 import org.springframework.core.Ordered;
@@ -46,7 +44,13 @@ public class DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessor implements EnvironmentPostProces
 		if (ClassUtils.isPresent(REACTOR_DEBUGAGENT_CLASS, null)) {
 			Boolean agentEnabled = environment.getProperty(DEBUGAGENT_ENABLED_CONFIG_KEY, Boolean.class);
 			if (agentEnabled != Boolean.FALSE) {
-				ReactorDebugAgent.init();
+				try {
+					Class<?> debugAgent = Class.forName(REACTOR_DEBUGAGENT_CLASS);
+					debugAgent.getMethod("init").invoke(null);
+				}
+				catch (Exception ex) {
+					throw new RuntimeException("Failed to init Reactor's debug agent");
+				}
 			}
 		}
 	}
diff --git a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/reactor/DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessorTests.java b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/reactor/DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessorTests.java
index 626139c2ba..034d7632f1 100644
--- a/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/reactor/DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessorTests.java
+++ b/spring-boot-project/spring-boot/src/test/java/org/springframework/boot/reactor/DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessorTests.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
 import reactor.core.Scannable;
 import reactor.core.publisher.Flux;
 
+import org.springframework.boot.testsupport.classpath.ClassPathOverrides;
 import org.springframework.mock.env.MockEnvironment;
 
 import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
@@ -29,6 +30,7 @@ import static org.assertj.core.api.Assertions.assertThat;
  *
  * @author Brian Clozel
  */
+@ClassPathOverrides("io.projectreactor:reactor-tools:3.3.0.RELEASE")
 class DebugAgentEnvironmentPostProcessorTests {
 
 	static {