diff --git a/spring-aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/framework/autoproxy/BeanNameAutoProxyCreator.java b/spring-aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/framework/autoproxy/BeanNameAutoProxyCreator.java
index 8ab713d01e2..a9a3f88a919 100644
--- a/spring-aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/framework/autoproxy/BeanNameAutoProxyCreator.java
+++ b/spring-aop/src/main/java/org/springframework/aop/framework/autoproxy/BeanNameAutoProxyCreator.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2020 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2025 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -112,10 +112,10 @@ public class BeanNameAutoProxyCreator extends AbstractAutoProxyCreator {
 			boolean isFactoryBean = FactoryBean.class.isAssignableFrom(beanClass);
 			for (String mappedName : this.beanNames) {
 				if (isFactoryBean) {
-					if (!mappedName.startsWith(BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX)) {
+					if (mappedName.isEmpty() || mappedName.charAt(0) != BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX_CHAR) {
 						continue;
 					}
-					mappedName = mappedName.substring(BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX.length());
+					mappedName = mappedName.substring(1);  // length of '&'
 				}
 				if (isMatch(beanName, mappedName)) {
 					return true;
diff --git a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/BeanFactory.java b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/BeanFactory.java
index 8e113a729f7..27f79597627 100644
--- a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/BeanFactory.java
+++ b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/BeanFactory.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2023 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2025 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -125,9 +125,16 @@ public interface BeanFactory {
 	 * beans <i>created</i> by the FactoryBean. For example, if the bean named
 	 * {@code myJndiObject} is a FactoryBean, getting {@code &myJndiObject}
 	 * will return the factory, not the instance returned by the factory.
+	 * @see #FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX_CHAR
 	 */
 	String FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX = "&";
 
+	/**
+	 * Character variant of {@link #FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX}.
+	 * @since 6.2.6
+	 */
+	char FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX_CHAR = '&';
+
 
 	/**
 	 * Return an instance, which may be shared or independent, of the specified bean.
diff --git a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/BeanFactoryUtils.java b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/BeanFactoryUtils.java
index 2e9580b6c6f..3f6921f22ee 100644
--- a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/BeanFactoryUtils.java
+++ b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/BeanFactoryUtils.java
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ public abstract class BeanFactoryUtils {
 	 * @see BeanFactory#FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX
 	 */
 	public static boolean isFactoryDereference(@Nullable String name) {
-		return (name != null && name.startsWith(BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX));
+		return (name != null && !name.isEmpty() && name.charAt(0) == BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX_CHAR);
 	}
 
 	/**
@@ -85,14 +85,14 @@ public abstract class BeanFactoryUtils {
 	 */
 	public static String transformedBeanName(String name) {
 		Assert.notNull(name, "'name' must not be null");
-		if (!name.startsWith(BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX)) {
+		if (name.isEmpty() || name.charAt(0) != BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX_CHAR) {
 			return name;
 		}
 		return transformedBeanNameCache.computeIfAbsent(name, beanName -> {
 			do {
-				beanName = beanName.substring(BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX.length());
+				beanName = beanName.substring(1);  // length of '&'
 			}
-			while (beanName.startsWith(BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX));
+			while (beanName.charAt(0) == BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX_CHAR);
 			return beanName;
 		});
 	}
diff --git a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/support/AbstractBeanFactory.java b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/support/AbstractBeanFactory.java
index dee9a440a0b..181705b16a5 100644
--- a/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/support/AbstractBeanFactory.java
+++ b/spring-beans/src/main/java/org/springframework/beans/factory/support/AbstractBeanFactory.java
@@ -762,16 +762,16 @@ public abstract class AbstractBeanFactory extends FactoryBeanRegistrySupport imp
 	public String[] getAliases(String name) {
 		String beanName = transformedBeanName(name);
 		List<String> aliases = new ArrayList<>();
-		boolean factoryPrefix = name.startsWith(FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX);
+		boolean hasFactoryPrefix = (!name.isEmpty() && name.charAt(0) == BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX_CHAR);
 		String fullBeanName = beanName;
-		if (factoryPrefix) {
+		if (hasFactoryPrefix) {
 			fullBeanName = FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX + beanName;
 		}
 		if (!fullBeanName.equals(name)) {
 			aliases.add(fullBeanName);
 		}
 		String[] retrievedAliases = super.getAliases(beanName);
-		String prefix = (factoryPrefix ? FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX : "");
+		String prefix = (hasFactoryPrefix ? FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX : "");
 		for (String retrievedAlias : retrievedAliases) {
 			String alias = prefix + retrievedAlias;
 			if (!alias.equals(name)) {
@@ -1137,7 +1137,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractBeanFactory extends FactoryBeanRegistrySupport imp
 	public BeanDefinition getMergedBeanDefinition(String name) throws BeansException {
 		String beanName = transformedBeanName(name);
 		// Efficiently check whether bean definition exists in this factory.
-		if (!containsBeanDefinition(beanName) && getParentBeanFactory() instanceof ConfigurableBeanFactory parent) {
+		if (getParentBeanFactory() instanceof ConfigurableBeanFactory parent && !containsBeanDefinition(beanName)) {
 			return parent.getMergedBeanDefinition(beanName);
 		}
 		// Resolve merged bean definition locally.
@@ -1276,7 +1276,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractBeanFactory extends FactoryBeanRegistrySupport imp
 	 */
 	protected String originalBeanName(String name) {
 		String beanName = transformedBeanName(name);
-		if (name.startsWith(FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX)) {
+		if (!name.isEmpty() && name.charAt(0) == BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX_CHAR) {
 			beanName = FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX + beanName;
 		}
 		return beanName;
diff --git a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ConfigurationClassEnhancer.java b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ConfigurationClassEnhancer.java
index 087fae9432e..05b303e455e 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ConfigurationClassEnhancer.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/context/annotation/ConfigurationClassEnhancer.java
@@ -362,9 +362,9 @@ class ConfigurationClassEnhancer {
 			// proxy that intercepts calls to getObject() and returns any cached bean instance.
 			// This ensures that the semantics of calling a FactoryBean from within @Bean methods
 			// is the same as that of referring to a FactoryBean within XML. See SPR-6602.
-			if (factoryContainsBean(beanFactory, BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX + beanName) &&
-					factoryContainsBean(beanFactory, beanName)) {
-				Object factoryBean = beanFactory.getBean(BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX + beanName);
+			String factoryBeanName = BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX + beanName;
+			if (factoryContainsBean(beanFactory, factoryBeanName) && factoryContainsBean(beanFactory, beanName)) {
+				Object factoryBean = beanFactory.getBean(factoryBeanName);
 				if (factoryBean instanceof ScopedProxyFactoryBean) {
 					// Scoped proxy factory beans are a special case and should not be further proxied
 				}
diff --git a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/jmx/export/MBeanExporter.java b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/jmx/export/MBeanExporter.java
index 97d48897ac7..af524d54d61 100644
--- a/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/jmx/export/MBeanExporter.java
+++ b/spring-context/src/main/java/org/springframework/jmx/export/MBeanExporter.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*
- * Copyright 2002-2024 the original author or authors.
+ * Copyright 2002-2025 the original author or authors.
  *
  * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
  * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
@@ -926,8 +926,8 @@ public class MBeanExporter extends MBeanRegistrationSupport implements MBeanExpo
 	 */
 	private boolean isExcluded(String beanName) {
 		return (this.excludedBeans.contains(beanName) ||
-					(beanName.startsWith(BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX) &&
-							this.excludedBeans.contains(beanName.substring(BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX.length()))));
+					(!beanName.isEmpty() && (beanName.charAt(0) == BeanFactory.FACTORY_BEAN_PREFIX_CHAR) &&
+							this.excludedBeans.contains(beanName.substring(1))));  // length of '&'
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotationsScanner.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotationsScanner.java
index 5274214e5bf..96d61a5986a 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotationsScanner.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/core/annotation/AnnotationsScanner.java
@@ -350,6 +350,7 @@ abstract class AnnotationsScanner {
 
 	private static boolean isOverride(Method rootMethod, Method candidateMethod) {
 		return (!Modifier.isPrivate(candidateMethod.getModifiers()) &&
+				candidateMethod.getParameterCount() == rootMethod.getParameterCount() &&
 				candidateMethod.getName().equals(rootMethod.getName()) &&
 				hasSameParameterTypes(rootMethod, candidateMethod));
 	}
diff --git a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/ClassUtils.java b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/ClassUtils.java
index 1e15e291c89..34623b1fbea 100644
--- a/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/ClassUtils.java
+++ b/spring-core/src/main/java/org/springframework/util/ClassUtils.java
@@ -614,10 +614,11 @@ public abstract class ClassUtils {
 			Class<?> resolvedPrimitive = primitiveWrapperTypeMap.get(rhsType);
 			return (lhsType == resolvedPrimitive);
 		}
-		else {
+		else if (rhsType.isPrimitive()) {
 			Class<?> resolvedWrapper = primitiveTypeToWrapperMap.get(rhsType);
 			return (resolvedWrapper != null && lhsType.isAssignableFrom(resolvedWrapper));
 		}
+		return false;
 	}
 
 	/**