diff --git a/modules/flowable-cmmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/deployer/CaseDefinitionDiagramHelper.java b/modules/flowable-cmmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/deployer/CaseDefinitionDiagramHelper.java
index 38d9e5bdb3f..299b6f6b44e 100644
--- a/modules/flowable-cmmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/deployer/CaseDefinitionDiagramHelper.java
+++ b/modules/flowable-cmmn-engine/src/main/java/org/flowable/cmmn/engine/impl/deployer/CaseDefinitionDiagramHelper.java
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 import org.flowable.cmmn.model.CmmnModel;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.api.repository.EngineDeployment;
 import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.util.IoUtil;
+import org.flowable.common.engine.impl.util.NativeUtil;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
 
@@ -74,6 +75,10 @@ protected CmmnResourceEntity createResourceEntity() {
     }
 
     public boolean shouldCreateDiagram(CaseDefinitionEntity caseDefinition, EngineDeployment deployment) {
+        if (NativeUtil.inNativeImage()) {
+            // Do not create diagram in native image
+            return false;
+        }
         if (deployment.isNew() && caseDefinition.hasGraphicalNotation()
                 && CommandContextUtil.getCmmnEngineConfiguration().isCreateDiagramOnDeploy()) {
 
diff --git a/modules/flowable-engine-common/src/main/java/org/flowable/common/engine/impl/util/NativeUtil.java b/modules/flowable-engine-common/src/main/java/org/flowable/common/engine/impl/util/NativeUtil.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..4c206628fb3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/flowable-engine-common/src/main/java/org/flowable/common/engine/impl/util/NativeUtil.java
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+/* Licensed 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 org.flowable.common.engine.impl.util;
+
+/**
+ * A util for detecting a GraalVM native environment.
+ * This is inspired by the Spring {@code NativeDetector}
+ *
+ * @author Filip Hrisafov
+ */
+public class NativeUtil {
+
+    // See https://github.com/oracle/graal/blob/master/sdk/src/org.graalvm.nativeimage/src/org/graalvm/nativeimage/ImageInfo.java
+    private static final String imageCode = System.getProperty("org.graalvm.nativeimage.imagecode");
+
+    private static final boolean inNativeImage = (imageCode != null);
+
+    /**
+     * Returns {@code true} if running in a native image context (for example
+     * {@code buildtime}, {@code runtime}, or {@code agent}) expressed by setting the
+     * {@code org.graalvm.nativeimage.imagecode} system property to any value.
+     */
+    public static boolean inNativeImage() {
+        return inNativeImage;
+    }
+
+}