diff --git a/core/camel-main/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/main/BaseMainSupport.java b/core/camel-main/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/main/BaseMainSupport.java
index edec9b123a514..df830d9473a9b 100644
--- a/core/camel-main/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/main/BaseMainSupport.java
+++ b/core/camel-main/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/main/BaseMainSupport.java
@@ -119,6 +119,7 @@
 import org.apache.camel.util.SecurityUtils;
 import org.apache.camel.util.SecurityViolation;
 import org.apache.camel.util.StringHelper;
+import org.apache.camel.util.concurrent.ThreadType;
 import org.apache.camel.vault.VaultConfiguration;
 import org.slf4j.Logger;
 import org.slf4j.LoggerFactory;
@@ -589,15 +590,6 @@ protected void autoconfigure(CamelContext camelContext) throws Exception {
             autoConfigurationPropertiesComponent(camelContext, autoConfiguredProperties);
             recorder.endStep(step);
             step = recorder.beginStep(BaseMainSupport.class, "autoConfigurationSingleOption", "Auto Configure");
-            autoConfigurationSingleOption(camelContext, autoConfiguredProperties, "camel.main.virtualThreadsEnabled",
-                    value -> {
-                        boolean enabled = Boolean.parseBoolean(value);
-                        mainConfigurationProperties.setVirtualThreadsEnabled(enabled);
-                        if (enabled) {
-                            System.setProperty("camel.threads.virtual.enabled", "true");
-                        }
-                        return null;
-                    });
             autoConfigurationSingleOption(camelContext, autoConfiguredProperties, "camel.main.routesIncludePattern",
                     value -> {
                         mainConfigurationProperties.setRoutesIncludePattern(value);
@@ -795,6 +787,58 @@ protected void configureMainListener(CamelContext camelContext) throws Exception
         }
     }
 
+    private void configureVirtualThreadsEarly(CamelContext camelContext) {
+        // Check programmatic configuration first (main.configure().withVirtualThreadsEnabled(true))
+        boolean enabled = mainConfigurationProperties.isVirtualThreadsEnabled();
+
+        if (!enabled && mainConfigurationProperties.isAutoConfigurationEnabled()) {
+            // Check initial properties (main.addInitialProperty / main.setInitialProperties)
+            if (initialProperties != null) {
+                String val = initialProperties.getProperty(optionKey("camel.main.virtualThreadsEnabled"));
+                if (val != null) {
+                    enabled = Boolean.parseBoolean(val);
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (!enabled) {
+                // Load from PropertiesComponent (application.properties, etc.)
+                OrderedLocationProperties props = (OrderedLocationProperties) camelContext.getPropertiesComponent()
+                        .loadProperties(name -> name.startsWith("camel."), MainHelper::optionKey);
+                String val = props.getProperty(optionKey("camel.main.virtualThreadsEnabled"));
+                if (val != null) {
+                    enabled = Boolean.parseBoolean(val);
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (!enabled && mainConfigurationProperties.isAutoConfigurationEnvironmentVariablesEnabled()) {
+                Properties envProps = MainHelper.loadEnvironmentVariablesAsProperties(new String[] { "camel.main." });
+                String val = envProps.getProperty(optionKey("camel.main.virtualThreadsEnabled"));
+                if (val != null) {
+                    enabled = Boolean.parseBoolean(val);
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (!enabled && mainConfigurationProperties.isAutoConfigurationSystemPropertiesEnabled()) {
+                Properties sysProps = MainHelper.loadJvmSystemPropertiesAsProperties(new String[] { "camel.main." });
+                String val = sysProps.getProperty("camel.main.virtualThreadsEnabled");
+                if (val != null) {
+                    enabled = Boolean.parseBoolean(val);
+                }
+            }
+
+            if (enabled) {
+                mainConfigurationProperties.setVirtualThreadsEnabled(true);
+            }
+        }
+
+        if (enabled) {
+            System.setProperty("camel.threads.virtual.enabled", "true");
+            // Directly set the cached value so even if ThreadType.current() was already called
+            // and cached PLATFORM before this point, it is overridden to VIRTUAL
+            ThreadType.enable();
+        }
+    }
+
     protected void autoConfigurationStartupConditions(
             CamelContext camelContext, OrderedLocationProperties autoConfiguredProperties)
             throws Exception {
@@ -958,6 +1002,8 @@ protected void postProcessCamelContext(CamelContext camelContext) throws Excepti
         configureRoutesLoader(camelContext);
         // configure custom main listeners
         configureMainListener(camelContext);
+        // configure virtual threads early before build() to avoid ThreadType DCL race
+        configureVirtualThreadsEarly(camelContext);
 
         // ensure camel context is build
         camelContext.build();
diff --git a/core/camel-main/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/main/MainVirtualThreadsTest.java b/core/camel-main/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/main/MainVirtualThreadsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..c846adf97a6f4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/camel-main/src/test/java/org/apache/camel/main/MainVirtualThreadsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+/*
+ * Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one or more
+ * contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file distributed with
+ * this work for additional information regarding copyright ownership.
+ * The ASF 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 org.apache.camel.main;
+
+import java.lang.reflect.Field;
+
+import org.apache.camel.util.concurrent.ThreadType;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.AfterEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.BeforeEach;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+
+import static org.junit.jupiter.api.Assertions.assertEquals;
+
+public class MainVirtualThreadsTest {
+
+    @BeforeEach
+    @AfterEach
+    void resetThreadType() throws Exception {
+        Field field = ThreadType.class.getDeclaredField("current");
+        field.setAccessible(true);
+        field.set(null, null);
+        System.clearProperty("camel.threads.virtual.enabled");
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testProgrammaticVirtualThreadsEnabled() {
+        Main main = new Main();
+        main.configure().withVirtualThreadsEnabled(true);
+        main.start();
+        try {
+            assertEquals(ThreadType.VIRTUAL, ThreadType.current());
+        } finally {
+            main.stop();
+        }
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void testInitialPropertyVirtualThreadsEnabled() {
+        Main main = new Main();
+        main.addInitialProperty("camel.main.virtualThreadsEnabled", "true");
+        main.start();
+        try {
+            assertEquals(ThreadType.VIRTUAL, ThreadType.current());
+        } finally {
+            main.stop();
+        }
+    }
+}
diff --git a/core/camel-util/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/util/concurrent/ThreadType.java b/core/camel-util/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/util/concurrent/ThreadType.java
index 074048e3d9a52..1731fe943a0cd 100644
--- a/core/camel-util/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/util/concurrent/ThreadType.java
+++ b/core/camel-util/src/main/java/org/apache/camel/util/concurrent/ThreadType.java
@@ -53,4 +53,17 @@ public static ThreadType current() {
         }
         return type;
     }
+
+    /**
+     * Directly enables virtual threads by setting the cached type to {@code VIRTUAL}.
+     * <p>
+     * This must be called before any thread pools are created, ideally during early bootstrap, to ensure the cached
+     * value reflects the configured intent regardless of the order in which {@link #current()} was previously invoked.
+     */
+    public static void enable() {
+        synchronized (ThreadType.class) {
+            current = VIRTUAL;
+        }
+        LOG.info("The type of thread enabled is: {}", VIRTUAL);
+    }
 }