diff --git a/project/SparkBuild.scala b/project/SparkBuild.scala
index 5f2ef480f8de5..55c87fcb3aaa2 100644
--- a/project/SparkBuild.scala
+++ b/project/SparkBuild.scala
@@ -322,7 +322,11 @@ object SparkBuild extends PomBuild {
 
     // disable Mima check for all modules,
     // to be enabled in specific ones that have previous artifacts
-    MimaKeys.mimaFailOnNoPrevious := false
+    MimaKeys.mimaFailOnNoPrevious := false,
+
+    // To prevent intermittent compliation failures, see also SPARK-33297
+    // Apparently we can remove this when we use JDK 11.
+    Test / classLoaderLayeringStrategy := ClassLoaderLayeringStrategy.Flat
   )
 
   def enable(settings: Seq[Setting[_]])(projectRef: ProjectRef) = {