diff --git a/src/main/resources/spotless/freshmark.gradle b/src/main/resources/spotless/freshmark.gradle
index d039ee9..cd986d7 100644
--- a/src/main/resources/spotless/freshmark.gradle
+++ b/src/main/resources/spotless/freshmark.gradle
@@ -35,6 +35,12 @@ spotless {
 		ratchetFrom null
 	}
 }
+// until this gets merged https://github.com/diffplug/spotless/pull/1304
+tasks.named('spotlessFreshmark') {
+	if (JavaVersion.current().isJava12Compatible()) {
+		enabled = false
+	}
+}
 
 // if spotlessChangelog was applied to this project, use that to
 // reformat the markdown files after the changelog has been bumped