diff --git a/tools/releasetools/common.py b/tools/releasetools/common.py
index 370710ecaf..0c878571c3 100644
--- a/tools/releasetools/common.py
+++ b/tools/releasetools/common.py
@@ -1800,17 +1800,23 @@ def GetTypeAndDevice(mount_point, info):
 
 
 def ParseCertificate(data):
-  """Parse a PEM-format certificate."""
-  cert = []
+  """Parses and converts a PEM-encoded certificate into DER-encoded.
+
+  This gives the same result as `openssl x509 -in <filename> -outform DER`.
+
+  Returns:
+    The decoded certificate string.
+  """
+  cert_buffer = []
   save = False
   for line in data.split("\n"):
     if "--END CERTIFICATE--" in line:
       break
     if save:
-      cert.append(line)
+      cert_buffer.append(line)
     if "--BEGIN CERTIFICATE--" in line:
       save = True
-  cert = "".join(cert).decode('base64')
+  cert = "".join(cert_buffer).decode('base64')
   return cert
 
 
diff --git a/tools/releasetools/test_common.py b/tools/releasetools/test_common.py
index 619eda54f8..c073eba0d6 100644
--- a/tools/releasetools/test_common.py
+++ b/tools/releasetools/test_common.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 #
 
 import os
+import subprocess
 import tempfile
 import time
 import unittest
@@ -402,6 +403,9 @@ class CommonApkUtilsTest(unittest.TestCase):
       'Compressed4.apk' : 'certs/compressed4',
   }
 
+  def setUp(self):
+    self.testdata_dir = test_utils.get_testdata_dir()
+
   def tearDown(self):
     common.Cleanup()
 
@@ -479,17 +483,27 @@ class CommonApkUtilsTest(unittest.TestCase):
       self.assertRaises(ValueError, common.ReadApkCerts, input_zip)
 
   def test_ExtractPublicKey(self):
-    testdata_dir = test_utils.get_testdata_dir()
-    cert = os.path.join(testdata_dir, 'testkey.x509.pem')
-    pubkey = os.path.join(testdata_dir, 'testkey.pubkey.pem')
+    cert = os.path.join(self.testdata_dir, 'testkey.x509.pem')
+    pubkey = os.path.join(self.testdata_dir, 'testkey.pubkey.pem')
     with open(pubkey, 'rb') as pubkey_fp:
       self.assertEqual(pubkey_fp.read(), common.ExtractPublicKey(cert))
 
   def test_ExtractPublicKey_invalidInput(self):
-    testdata_dir = test_utils.get_testdata_dir()
-    wrong_input = os.path.join(testdata_dir, 'testkey.pk8')
+    wrong_input = os.path.join(self.testdata_dir, 'testkey.pk8')
     self.assertRaises(AssertionError, common.ExtractPublicKey, wrong_input)
 
+  def test_ParseCertificate(self):
+    cert = os.path.join(self.testdata_dir, 'testkey.x509.pem')
+
+    cmd = ['openssl', 'x509', '-in', cert, '-outform', 'DER']
+    proc = common.Run(cmd, stdout=subprocess.PIPE, stderr=subprocess.PIPE)
+    expected, _ = proc.communicate()
+    self.assertEqual(0, proc.returncode)
+
+    with open(cert) as cert_fp:
+      actual = common.ParseCertificate(cert_fp.read())
+    self.assertEqual(expected, actual)
+
 
 class CommonUtilsTest(unittest.TestCase):