diff --git a/core/builder/src/main/java/io/quarkus/builder/BuildChainBuilder.java b/core/builder/src/main/java/io/quarkus/builder/BuildChainBuilder.java
index 7d72d220502cc..8599df9c97914 100644
--- a/core/builder/src/main/java/io/quarkus/builder/BuildChainBuilder.java
+++ b/core/builder/src/main/java/io/quarkus/builder/BuildChainBuilder.java
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 import java.io.FileOutputStream;
 import java.io.IOException;
 import java.io.OutputStreamWriter;
-import java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets;
 import java.util.ArrayDeque;
 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.Collections;
@@ -23,6 +22,8 @@
 
 import io.quarkus.builder.item.BuildItem;
 
+import static java.nio.charset.StandardCharsets.UTF_8;
+
 /**
  * A build chain builder.
  *
@@ -30,20 +31,15 @@
  */
 public final class BuildChainBuilder {
 
-    private static final String GRAPH_OUTPUT = System.getProperty("quarkus.builder.graph-output");
     static final boolean LOG_CONFLICT_CAUSING = Boolean.getBoolean("quarkus.builder.log-conflict-cause");
+    private static final String GRAPH_OUTPUT = System.getProperty("quarkus.builder.graph-output");
 
-    private final BuildStepBuilder finalStep;
     private final List<BuildProvider> providers = new ArrayList<>();
-    private final Map<BuildStepBuilder, StackTraceElement[]> steps = new HashMap<BuildStepBuilder, StackTraceElement[]>();
+    private final Map<BuildStepBuilder, StackTraceElement[]> steps = new HashMap<>();
     private final Set<ItemId> initialIds = new HashSet<>();
     private final Set<ItemId> finalIds = new HashSet<>();
     private ClassLoader classLoader = BuildChainBuilder.class.getClassLoader();
 
-    BuildChainBuilder() {
-        finalStep = addBuildStep(new FinalStep());
-    }
-
     /**
      * Add a build step to the chain. The configuration in the build step builder at the time that the chain is built is
      * the configuration that will apply to the build step in the final chain. Any subsequent changes will be ignored.
@@ -109,12 +105,11 @@ public BuildChainBuilder addInitial(Class<? extends BuildItem> type) {
         return this;
     }
 
-    public BuildChainBuilder loadProviders(ClassLoader classLoader) throws ChainBuildException {
+    public void loadProviders(ClassLoader classLoader) throws ChainBuildException {
         final ServiceLoader<BuildProvider> serviceLoader = ServiceLoader.load(BuildProvider.class, classLoader);
         for (final BuildProvider provider : serviceLoader) {
             provider.installInto(this);
         }
-        return this;
     }
 
     /**
@@ -122,13 +117,11 @@ public BuildChainBuilder loadProviders(ClassLoader classLoader) throws ChainBuil
      * that is produced in the chain.
      *
      * @param type the item type (must not be {@code null})
-     * @return this builder
      * @throws IllegalArgumentException if the item type is {@code null}
      */
-    public BuildChainBuilder addFinal(Class<? extends BuildItem> type) {
+    public void addFinal(Class<? extends BuildItem> type) {
         Assert.checkNotNullParam("type", type);
         finalIds.add(new ItemId(type));
-        return this;
     }
 
     ClassLoader getClassLoader() {
@@ -463,42 +456,39 @@ Set<ItemId> getFinalIds() {
     }
 
     private static void outputGraph(Set<StepInfo> startSteps, Set<StepInfo> endSteps) {
-        if (GRAPH_OUTPUT != null && !GRAPH_OUTPUT.isEmpty()) {
-            try (FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(GRAPH_OUTPUT)) {
-                try (OutputStreamWriter osw = new OutputStreamWriter(fos, StandardCharsets.UTF_8)) {
-                    try (BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(osw)) {
-                        writer.write("digraph {");
-                        writer.newLine();
-                        writer.write("    node [shape=rectangle];");
-                        writer.newLine();
-                        writer.write("    rankdir=LR;");
-                        writer.newLine();
-                        writer.newLine();
-                        writer.write("    { rank = same; ");
-                        for (StepInfo startStep : startSteps) {
-                            writer.write(quoteString(startStep.getBuildStep().getId()));
-                            writer.write("; ");
-                        }
-                        writer.write("};");
-                        writer.newLine();
-                        writer.write("    { rank = same; ");
-                        for (StepInfo endStep : endSteps) {
-                            if (!startSteps.contains(endStep)) {
-                                writer.write(quoteString(endStep.getBuildStep().getId()));
-                                writer.write("; ");
-                            }
-                        }
-                        writer.write("};");
-                        writer.newLine();
-                        writer.newLine();
-                        final HashSet<StepInfo> printed = new HashSet<>();
-                        for (StepInfo step : startSteps) {
-                            writeStep(writer, printed, step);
-                        }
-                        writer.write("}");
-                        writer.newLine();
+        if (GRAPH_OUTPUT != null && !GRAPH_OUTPUT.isBlank()) {
+            try (BufferedWriter writer =
+                         new BufferedWriter(new OutputStreamWriter(new FileOutputStream(GRAPH_OUTPUT), UTF_8))) {
+                writer.write("digraph {");
+                writer.newLine();
+                writer.write("    node [shape=rectangle];");
+                writer.newLine();
+                writer.write("    rankdir=LR;");
+                writer.newLine();
+                writer.newLine();
+                writer.write("    { rank = same; ");
+                for (StepInfo startStep : startSteps) {
+                    writer.write(quoteString(startStep.getBuildStep().getId()));
+                    writer.write("; ");
+                }
+                writer.write("};");
+                writer.newLine();
+                writer.write("    { rank = same; ");
+                for (StepInfo endStep : endSteps) {
+                    if (!startSteps.contains(endStep)) {
+                        writer.write(quoteString(endStep.getBuildStep().getId()));
+                        writer.write("; ");
                     }
                 }
+                writer.write("};");
+                writer.newLine();
+                writer.newLine();
+                final HashSet<StepInfo> printed = new HashSet<>();
+                for (StepInfo step : startSteps) {
+                    writeStep(writer, printed, step);
+                }
+                writer.write("}");
+                writer.newLine();
             } catch (IOException ioe) {
                 throw new RuntimeException("Failed to write debug graph output", ioe);
             }