diff --git a/core/Makefile b/core/Makefile
index e9e55db0cb..4bcad82278 100644
--- a/core/Makefile
+++ b/core/Makefile
@@ -2493,6 +2493,9 @@ recovery_kernel := $(firstword $(INSTALLED_KERNEL_TARGET))
 recovery_ramdisk := $(PRODUCT_OUT)/ramdisk-recovery.img
 recovery_resources_common := bootable/recovery/res
 
+ifneq (,$(TARGET_RECOVERY_DENSITY))
+recovery_density := $(filter %dpi,$(TARGET_RECOVERY_DENSITY))
+else
 # Set recovery_density to a density bucket based on TARGET_SCREEN_DENSITY, PRODUCT_AAPT_PREF_CONFIG,
 # or mdpi, in order of preference. We support both specific buckets (e.g. xdpi) and numbers,
 # which get remapped to a bucket.
@@ -2508,6 +2511,7 @@ recovery_density := $(strip \
        $(if $(filter $(shell echo $$(($(recovery_density_value) >= 280))),1),xhdpi),\
        $(if $(filter $(shell echo $$(($(recovery_density_value) >= 200))),1),hdpi,mdpi)))
 endif
+endif
 
 ifneq (,$(wildcard $(recovery_resources_common)-$(recovery_density)))
 recovery_resources_common := $(recovery_resources_common)-$(recovery_density)