diff --git a/ion/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/ionvalue/IonValueMapper.java b/ion/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/ionvalue/IonValueMapper.java
index e2f103bf9..95e837d13 100644
--- a/ion/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/ionvalue/IonValueMapper.java
+++ b/ion/src/main/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/ionvalue/IonValueMapper.java
@@ -24,6 +24,7 @@
 
 import com.amazon.ion.IonSystem;
 import com.amazon.ion.IonValue;
+import com.amazon.ion.system.IonSystemBuilder;
 
 /**
  * Supports serializing Ion to POJO and back using the Jackson Ion framework.
@@ -52,11 +53,27 @@ public IonValueMapper(IonSystem ionSystem) {
         this(ionSystem, null);
     }
 
-    // @since 2.18: needed for `copy()`
+    /**
+     * Needed for `copy()`
+     *
+     * @since 2.18
+     */
     protected IonValueMapper(IonValueMapper src) {
         super(src);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Needed for some builders
+     *
+     * @since 2.18
+     */
+    protected IonValueMapper(IonFactory f, PropertyNamingStrategy strategy) {
+        super(f);
+        this.registerModule(new IonValueModule());
+        this.registerModule(new EnumAsIonSymbolModule());
+        this.setPropertyNamingStrategy(strategy);
+    }
+
     /**
      * Constructor that provides an override on the default Constructor for the PropertyNamingStrategy.
      *
@@ -66,19 +83,61 @@ protected IonValueMapper(IonValueMapper src) {
      *            {@link PropertyNamingStrategy}
      */
     public IonValueMapper(IonSystem ionSystem, PropertyNamingStrategy strategy) {
-        super(new IonFactory(null, ionSystem));
-        this.registerModule(new IonValueModule());
-        this.registerModule(new EnumAsIonSymbolModule());
-        this.setPropertyNamingStrategy(strategy);
+        this(new IonFactory(null, ionSystem), strategy);
     }
 
     /*
     /**********************************************************************
     /* Life-cycle, builders
+    /*
+    /* NOTE: must "override" (mask) all static methods from parent class
+    /* (most of which just call basic `builder()` or `builder(IonSystem)`
     /**********************************************************************
      */
 
-    // TODO: add overrides
+    public static Builder builder() {
+        return builder(IonSystemBuilder.standard().build());
+    }
+
+    public static Builder builder(IonSystem ionSystem) {
+        return builder(ionSystem, null);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Canonical {@code builder()} method that most other methods
+     * ultimately call.
+     */
+    public static Builder builder(IonSystem ionSystem, PropertyNamingStrategy strategy) {
+        return new Builder(new IonValueMapper(ionSystem, strategy));
+    }
+
+    public static Builder builderForBinaryWriters() {
+        return builderForBinaryWriters(IonSystemBuilder.standard().build());
+    }
+
+    public static Builder builderForBinaryWriters(IonSystem ionSystem) {
+        return builder(IonFactory.builderForBinaryWriters()
+                .ionSystem(ionSystem)
+                .build());
+    }
+
+    public static Builder builderForTextualWriters() {
+        return builderForTextualWriters(IonSystemBuilder.standard().build());
+    }
+
+    public static Builder builderForTextualWriters(IonSystem ionSystem) {
+        return builder(IonFactory.builderForTextualWriters()
+                .ionSystem(ionSystem)
+                .build());
+    }
+
+    public static Builder builder(IonFactory streamFactory) {
+        return builder(streamFactory, null);
+    }
+
+    public static Builder builder(IonFactory streamFactory, PropertyNamingStrategy strategy) {
+        return new Builder(new IonValueMapper(streamFactory, strategy));
+    }
 
     /*
     /**********************************************************************
diff --git a/ion/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/ionvalue/IonValueMapperTest.java b/ion/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/ionvalue/IonValueMapperTest.java
index fdcd50218..fbeba4951 100644
--- a/ion/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/ionvalue/IonValueMapperTest.java
+++ b/ion/src/test/java/com/fasterxml/jackson/dataformat/ion/ionvalue/IonValueMapperTest.java
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@
  */
 public class IonValueMapperTest {
     private final IonSystem ionSystem = IonSystemBuilder.standard().build();
-    private final IonValueMapper ionValueMapper = new IonValueMapper(ionSystem,
-            PropertyNamingStrategies.SNAKE_CASE);
+    private final IonValueMapper ionValueMapper = (IonValueMapper) IonValueMapper.builder(ionSystem,
+            PropertyNamingStrategies.SNAKE_CASE).build();
 
     enum ReturnCode {
         Success,
@@ -252,4 +252,16 @@ private void assertRoundTrip(String ion, Class<?> clazz) throws IOException {
         IonValue actual = ionValueMapper.serialize(o);
         assertEquals(expected, actual);
     }
+
+    // for [dataformats-binary#509]
+    @Test
+    public void testBuilders() throws Exception {
+        IonObjectMapper mapper = IonValueMapper.builder().build();
+        assertNotNull(mapper);
+        assertEquals(IonValueMapper.class, mapper.getClass());
+
+        mapper = IonValueMapper.builder(ionSystem).build();
+        assertNotNull(mapper);
+        assertEquals(IonValueMapper.class, mapper.getClass());
+    }
 }
diff --git a/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x b/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x
index 2c1760e6e..8430cd469 100644
--- a/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x
+++ b/release-notes/CREDITS-2.x
@@ -338,3 +338,7 @@ Joachim Lous (@jlous)
  * Requested #494: Avro Schema generation: allow mapping Java Enum properties to
    Avro String values
   (2.18.0)
+
+Robert Noack (@mr-robert)
+ * Reported #509: IonValueMapper.builder() not implemented, does not register modules
+  (2.18.0)
diff --git a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
index e57ac1106..3d2686002 100644
--- a/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
+++ b/release-notes/VERSION-2.x
@@ -24,6 +24,8 @@ Active maintainers:
  (contributed by Michal F)
 #508: (avro) Ignore `specificData` field on serialization
  (contributed by @pjfanning)
+#509: IonValueMapper.builder() not implemented, does not register modules
+ (reported by Robert N)
 
 2.17.3 (not yet released)