diff --git a/core/Makefile b/core/Makefile
index fbe22b7447..056acc5c72 100644
--- a/core/Makefile
+++ b/core/Makefile
@@ -2183,6 +2183,10 @@ APEX_MODULE_LIBS= \
   libopenjdkjvmti.so \
   libpac.so \
 
+# An option to disable the check below, for local use since some build targets
+# still may create these libraries in /system (b/129006418).
+DISABLE_APEX_LIBS_ABSENCE_CHECK ?=
+
 # If the check below fails, some library has ended up in system/lib or
 # system/lib64 that is intended to only go into some APEX package. The likely
 # cause is that a library or binary in /system has grown a dependency that
@@ -2204,17 +2208,22 @@ APEX_MODULE_LIBS= \
 # might be misconfigured or something is wrong in the build system. Please reach
 # out to the APEX package owners and/or soong-team@, or
 # android-building@googlegroups.com externally.
+ifndef DISABLE_APEX_LIBS_ABSENCE_CHECK
 define check-apex-libs-absence
 $(hide) ( \
   cd $(TARGET_OUT); \
   findres=$$(find lib* -type f \( -false $(foreach lib,$(APEX_MODULE_LIBS),-o -name $(lib)) \) -print) || exit 1; \
   if [ -n "$$findres" ]; then \
-    echo "APEX libraries found in system image (see comment in this makefile for details):" 1>&2; \
+    echo "APEX libraries found in system image (see comment in build/make/core/Makefile for details):" 1>&2; \
     echo "$$findres" | sort 1>&2; \
     false; \
   fi; \
 )
 endef
+else
+define check-apex-libs-absence
+endef
+endif
 
 # $(1): output file
 define build-systemimage-target