diff --git a/docs/guides/server/configuration.adoc b/docs/guides/server/configuration.adoc
index e5c782a642c..f106e4a4da4 100644
--- a/docs/guides/server/configuration.adoc
+++ b/docs/guides/server/configuration.adoc
@@ -155,6 +155,8 @@ Note that some Quarkus properties are already mapped in the {project_name} confi
 To disable expression evaluation, the `\` character functions as an escape character. In particular, it must be used to escape the usage of `$` characters when they appear to define an expression or are repeated. For example, if you want the configuration value `my$$password`, use `my\$\$password` instead.  Note that the `\` character requires additional escaping or quoting when using most unix shells, or when it appears in properties files.
 For example, bash single quotes preserve the single backslash `--db-password='my\$\$password'`. Also, with bash double quotes, you need an additional backslash `--db-password="my\\$\\$password"`. Similarly in a properties file, backslash characters must also be escaped: `kc.db-password=my\\$\\$password`
 
+When specifying Windows file paths in configuration values, backslashes must also be escaped. For example, if you want to specify the path `C:\path\to\file`, you should write it as `C:\\path\\to\\file`. Alternatively, you can use forward slashes which don't need escaping: `C:/path/to/file`.
+
 == Starting {project_name}
 You can start {project_name} in `development mode` or `production mode`. Each mode offers different defaults for the intended environment.
 
diff --git a/quarkus/dist/src/main/content/bin/kc.bat b/quarkus/dist/src/main/content/bin/kc.bat
index 6f6168f55d5..437f34e8ceb 100644
--- a/quarkus/dist/src/main/content/bin/kc.bat
+++ b/quarkus/dist/src/main/content/bin/kc.bat
@@ -177,8 +177,12 @@ if "x%JAVA%" == "x" (
 
 set CLASSPATH_OPTS="%DIRNAME%..\lib\quarkus-run.jar"
 
+rem set the homedir with \ replaced by /
+set KC_HOME_DIR=%DIRNAME%..
+set KC_HOME_DIR=%KC_HOME_DIR:\=/%
+
 rem The property 'java.util.concurrent.ForkJoinPool.common.threadFactory' is set here, as a Java Agent or enabling JMX might initialize the factory before Quarkus can set the property in JDK21+.
-set JAVA_RUN_OPTS=-Djava.util.concurrent.ForkJoinPool.common.threadFactory=io.quarkus.bootstrap.forkjoin.QuarkusForkJoinWorkerThreadFactory %JAVA_OPTS% -Dkc.home.dir="%DIRNAME%.." -Djboss.server.config.dir="%DIRNAME%..\conf" -Dkeycloak.theme.dir="%DIRNAME%..\themes" %SERVER_OPTS% -cp %CLASSPATH_OPTS% io.quarkus.bootstrap.runner.QuarkusEntryPoint %CONFIG_ARGS%
+set JAVA_RUN_OPTS=-Djava.util.concurrent.ForkJoinPool.common.threadFactory=io.quarkus.bootstrap.forkjoin.QuarkusForkJoinWorkerThreadFactory %JAVA_OPTS% -Dkc.home.dir="%KC_HOME_DIR%" -Djboss.server.config.dir="%DIRNAME%..\conf" -Dkeycloak.theme.dir="%DIRNAME%..\themes" %SERVER_OPTS% -cp %CLASSPATH_OPTS% io.quarkus.bootstrap.runner.QuarkusEntryPoint %CONFIG_ARGS%
 
 set OPTIMIZED_OPTION=--optimized
 set HELP_LONG_OPTION=--help
diff --git a/quarkus/runtime/src/main/java/org/keycloak/quarkus/runtime/configuration/mappers/HttpPropertyMappers.java b/quarkus/runtime/src/main/java/org/keycloak/quarkus/runtime/configuration/mappers/HttpPropertyMappers.java
index 63a65634bde..b058a69d711 100644
--- a/quarkus/runtime/src/main/java/org/keycloak/quarkus/runtime/configuration/mappers/HttpPropertyMappers.java
+++ b/quarkus/runtime/src/main/java/org/keycloak/quarkus/runtime/configuration/mappers/HttpPropertyMappers.java
@@ -139,31 +139,31 @@ public final class HttpPropertyMappers {
 
     public static void validateConfig() {
         boolean enabled = isHttpEnabled(Configuration.getOptionalKcValue(HttpOptions.HTTP_ENABLED.getKey()).orElse(null));
-        Optional<String> certFile = Configuration.getOptionalKcValue(HttpOptions.HTTPS_CERTIFICATE_FILE.getKey());
-        Optional<String> keystoreFile = Configuration.getOptionalKcValue(HttpOptions.HTTPS_KEY_STORE_FILE.getKey());
+        Optional<String> certFile = Configuration.getOptionalValue(QUARKUS_HTTPS_CERT_FILES);
+        Optional<String> keystoreFile = Configuration.getOptionalValue(QUARKUS_HTTPS_KEY_STORE_FILE);
         if (!enabled && certFile.isEmpty() && keystoreFile.isEmpty()) {
             throw new PropertyException(Messages.httpsConfigurationNotSet());
         }
 
         CertificateConfig config = new CertificateConfig();
 
-        config.trustStoreFile = Configuration.getOptionalKcValue(HttpOptions.HTTPS_TRUST_STORE_FILE.getKey()).map(Paths::get);
+        config.trustStoreFile = Configuration.getOptionalValue(QUARKUS_HTTPS_TRUST_STORE_FILE).map(Paths::get);
         config.trustStorePassword = Configuration.getOptionalKcValue(HttpOptions.HTTPS_TRUST_STORE_PASSWORD.getKey());
-        config.trustStoreFileType = Configuration.getOptionalKcValue(HttpOptions.HTTPS_TRUST_STORE_TYPE.getKey());
+        config.trustStoreFileType = Configuration.getOptionalValue(QUARKUS_HTTPS_TRUST_STORE_FILE_TYPE);
         config.trustStoreProvider = Configuration.getOptionalValue("quarkus.http.ssl.certificate.trust-store-provider");
         config.trustStoreCertAlias = Configuration.getOptionalValue("quarkus.http.ssl.certificate.trust-store-cert-alias");
         config.trustStoreFiles = Optional.empty();
 
         config.keyStoreFile = keystoreFile.map(Paths::get);
         config.keyStorePassword = Configuration.getOptionalKcValue(HttpOptions.HTTPS_KEY_STORE_PASSWORD.getKey());
-        config.keyStoreFileType = Configuration.getOptionalKcValue(HttpOptions.HTTPS_KEY_STORE_TYPE.getKey());
+        config.keyStoreFileType = Configuration.getOptionalValue(QUARKUS_HTTPS_KEY_STORE_FILE_TYPE);
         config.keyStoreProvider = Configuration.getOptionalValue("quarkus.http.ssl.certificate.key-store-provider");
         config.keyStoreAlias = Configuration.getOptionalValue("quarkus.http.ssl.certificate.key-store-alias");
         config.keyStoreAliasPassword = Configuration.getOptionalValue("quarkus.http.ssl.certificate.key-store-alias-password");
         config.keyStoreAliasPasswordKey = Configuration.getOptionalValue("quarkus.http.ssl.certificate.key-store-alias-password-key");
         config.keyStoreKeyAlias = Configuration.getOptionalValue("quarkus.http.ssl.certificate.key-store-key-alias");
         
-        config.keyFiles = Configuration.getOptionalKcValue(HttpOptions.HTTPS_CERTIFICATE_KEY_FILE.getKey()).map(Paths::get).map(List::of);
+        config.keyFiles = Configuration.getOptionalValue(QUARKUS_HTTPS_CERT_KEY_FILES).map(Paths::get).map(List::of);
         config.files = certFile.map(Paths::get).map(List::of);
 
         try {
diff --git a/quarkus/tests/integration/src/test/java/org/keycloak/it/cli/dist/JavaOptsScriptTest.java b/quarkus/tests/integration/src/test/java/org/keycloak/it/cli/dist/JavaOptsScriptTest.java
index 07afe821464..9fc28421a93 100644
--- a/quarkus/tests/integration/src/test/java/org/keycloak/it/cli/dist/JavaOptsScriptTest.java
+++ b/quarkus/tests/integration/src/test/java/org/keycloak/it/cli/dist/JavaOptsScriptTest.java
@@ -22,8 +22,10 @@ import io.quarkus.test.junit.main.LaunchResult;
 
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Tag;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.condition.EnabledOnOs;
 import org.junit.jupiter.api.condition.OS;
 import org.keycloak.it.junit5.extension.DistributionTest;
+import org.keycloak.it.junit5.extension.DryRun;
 import org.keycloak.it.junit5.extension.RawDistOnly;
 import org.keycloak.it.junit5.extension.WithEnvVars;
 
@@ -32,6 +34,7 @@ import static org.hamcrest.CoreMatchers.not;
 import static org.hamcrest.MatcherAssert.assertThat;
 import static org.hamcrest.Matchers.matchesPattern;
 
+@DryRun
 @DistributionTest
 @RawDistOnly(reason = "No need to test script again on container")
 @WithEnvVars({"PRINT_ENV", "true"})
@@ -120,4 +123,13 @@ public class JavaOptsScriptTest {
         assertThat(output, containsString("DefaultFactory: groovy Closures in annotations are disabled and will not be loaded"));
     }
 
+    @EnabledOnOs(value = { OS.WINDOWS }, disabledReason = "different path behaviour on Windows.")
+    @Test
+    @Launch({"start-dev", "--optimized"})
+    void testKcHomeDirPathFormat(LaunchResult result) {
+        String output = result.getOutput();
+        assertThat(output, containsString("kc.home.dir="));
+        assertThat(output, matchesPattern("(?s).*kc\\.home\\.dir=\"[A-Z]:/.*?/keycloak/quarkus/tests/integration/target/kc-tests/keycloak-\\d+\\.\\d+\\.\\d+.*?/bin/\\.\\.\".*"));
+    }
+
 }
diff --git a/quarkus/tests/integration/src/test/java/org/keycloak/it/cli/dist/QuarkusPropertiesDistTest.java b/quarkus/tests/integration/src/test/java/org/keycloak/it/cli/dist/QuarkusPropertiesDistTest.java
index b7cf28847e3..6db22c54691 100644
--- a/quarkus/tests/integration/src/test/java/org/keycloak/it/cli/dist/QuarkusPropertiesDistTest.java
+++ b/quarkus/tests/integration/src/test/java/org/keycloak/it/cli/dist/QuarkusPropertiesDistTest.java
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ public class QuarkusPropertiesDistTest {
             "--https-certificate-key-file=C:\\tmp\\kc\\bin\\..\\conf/server.key.pem" })
     @Order(14)
     void testHttpCertsPathTransformerOnWindows(CLIResult cliResult) {
-        cliResult.assertError("Failed to load 'https-key-' material: NoSuchFileException C:/tmp/kc/bin/../conf/server.crt.pem");
+        cliResult.assertError("Failed to load 'https-key-' material: NoSuchFileException C:\\tmp\\kc\\bin\\..\\conf\\server.crt.pem");
     }
 
     public static class AddConsoleHandlerFromQuarkusProps implements Consumer<KeycloakDistribution> {
diff --git a/quarkus/tests/junit5/src/main/java/org/keycloak/it/junit5/extension/CLITestExtension.java b/quarkus/tests/junit5/src/main/java/org/keycloak/it/junit5/extension/CLITestExtension.java
index fa1ccdf9049..aa3e2b8e179 100644
--- a/quarkus/tests/junit5/src/main/java/org/keycloak/it/junit5/extension/CLITestExtension.java
+++ b/quarkus/tests/junit5/src/main/java/org/keycloak/it/junit5/extension/CLITestExtension.java
@@ -102,7 +102,8 @@ public class CLITestExtension extends QuarkusMainTestExtension {
 
             configureEnvVars(context.getRequiredTestClass().getAnnotation(WithEnvVars.class));
             configureEnvVars(context.getRequiredTestMethod().getAnnotation(WithEnvVars.class));
-            boolean dryRun = context.getRequiredTestMethod().getAnnotation(DryRun.class) != null;
+            boolean dryRun = context.getRequiredTestClass().getAnnotation(DryRun.class) != null
+                    || context.getRequiredTestMethod().getAnnotation(DryRun.class) != null;
             if (dryRun && isRaw()) {
                 dist.setEnvVar(DryRunMixin.KC_DRY_RUN_ENV, "true");
                 dist.setEnvVar(DryRunMixin.KC_DRY_RUN_BUILD_ENV, "true");
diff --git a/quarkus/tests/junit5/src/main/java/org/keycloak/it/junit5/extension/DryRun.java b/quarkus/tests/junit5/src/main/java/org/keycloak/it/junit5/extension/DryRun.java
index a0ef9d360e3..2983f754d12 100644
--- a/quarkus/tests/junit5/src/main/java/org/keycloak/it/junit5/extension/DryRun.java
+++ b/quarkus/tests/junit5/src/main/java/org/keycloak/it/junit5/extension/DryRun.java
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ import java.lang.annotation.Target;
 /**
  * {@link DryRun} is used to configure a non-running, non-augmenting distribution
  */
-@Target({ ElementType.METHOD })
+@Target({ ElementType.METHOD, ElementType.TYPE })
 @Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
 public @interface DryRun {