WorkManager: java.lang.VerifyError: Verifier rejected class androidx.work.impl.OperationImpl

I'm trying to resuscitate an old codebase.

In one of the activities, the enqueue() call represented in the code snippet below keeps crashing the app:

WorkManager
    .getInstance(requireContext())
    .enqueue(updateValues) // updateValues is a WorkRequest

Here's the exception:

java.lang.VerifyError: Verifier rejected class androidx.work.impl.OperationImpl: com.google.common.util.concurrent.ListenableFuture androidx.work.impl.OperationImpl.getResult() failed to verify: com.google.common.util.concurrent.ListenableFuture androidx.work.impl.OperationImpl.getResult(): [0x2] can't resolve returned type 'Unresolved Reference: com.google.common.util.concurrent.ListenableFuture' or 'Unresolved Reference: androidx.work.impl.utils.futures.SettableFuture' (declaration of 'androidx.work.impl.OperationImpl' appears in /data/app/~~KoZa3Uwv5hinF_EqVv8JEA==/com.flesson.tutor.uat-YOfhXEvtwlYyJ7ihgXtB_A==/base.apk)

I have:

• Updated the dependency version for WorkManager to 2.8.0-alpha02 which is the latest version
• Updated minSdk to 21 (from 19)
• Used JDK 11
• Upgraded TARGET_SDK and COMPILE_SDK to 31
• Upgraded Kotlin version to 1.6.0
• Invalidate cache and restart

..but the crash still persists.

Here's the updateValues WorkRequest:

private val updateValues: WorkRequest by lazy {
    OneTimeWorkRequestBuilder<UpdateValuesWorker>()
        .setConstraints(
            Constraints
                .Builder()
                .setRequiredNetworkType(NetworkType.CONNECTED)
                .build()
            )
        .setBackoffCriteria(
            BackoffPolicy.EXPONENTIAL,
            5,
            TimeUnit.MINUTES
        )
        .build()
}

UpdateValuesWorker just makes a regular API call.

The solution was a tad weird, I admit.

My first step was to update the dependency versions for WorkManager as well as Coroutines to the latest versions (as stated in the question details). After that, I updated the provider<> tag in my AndroidManifest.xml file from this:

<provider
    android:name="androidx.work.impl.WorkManagerInitializer"
    android:authorities="${applicationId}.workmanager-init"
    tools:node="remove" />

to this:

<provider
    android:name="androidx.startup.InitializationProvider"
    android:authorities="${applicationId}.androidx-startup"
    android:exported="false"
    tools:node="merge" />

After that, everything just worked fine.