diff --git a/android/config.go b/android/config.go
index bb3cc97ab..c0f84c8aa 100644
--- a/android/config.go
+++ b/android/config.go
@@ -727,6 +727,10 @@ func (c *config) IsEnvFalse(key string) bool {
 	return value == "0" || value == "n" || value == "no" || value == "off" || value == "false"
 }
 
+func (c *config) TargetsJava17() bool {
+	return c.IsEnvTrue("EXPERIMENTAL_TARGET_JAVA_VERSION_17")
+}
+
 // EnvDeps returns the environment variables this build depends on. The first
 // call to this function blocks future reads from the environment.
 func (c *config) EnvDeps() map[string]string {
diff --git a/java/java.go b/java/java.go
index 874f93576..659f98a7c 100644
--- a/java/java.go
+++ b/java/java.go
@@ -517,8 +517,14 @@ func getJavaVersion(ctx android.ModuleContext, javaVersion string, sdkContext an
 		return normalizeJavaVersion(ctx, javaVersion)
 	} else if ctx.Device() {
 		return defaultJavaLanguageVersion(ctx, sdkContext.SdkVersion(ctx))
-	} else {
+	} else if ctx.Config().TargetsJava17() {
+		// Temporary experimental flag to be able to try and build with
+		// java version 17 options.  The flag, if used, just sets Java
+		// 17 as the default version, leaving any components that
+		// target an older version intact.
 		return JAVA_VERSION_17
+	} else {
+		return JAVA_VERSION_11
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/java/sdk.go b/java/sdk.go
index 10ae3f6e8..b0da5afba 100644
--- a/java/sdk.go
+++ b/java/sdk.go
@@ -57,10 +57,14 @@ func defaultJavaLanguageVersion(ctx android.EarlyModuleContext, s android.SdkSpe
 		return JAVA_VERSION_8
 	} else if sdk.FinalOrFutureInt() <= 31 {
 		return JAVA_VERSION_9
-	} else if sdk.FinalOrFutureInt() <= 32 {
-		return JAVA_VERSION_11
-	} else {
+	} else if ctx.Config().TargetsJava17() {
+		// Temporary experimental flag to be able to try and build with
+		// java version 17 options.  The flag, if used, just sets Java
+		// 17 as the default version, leaving any components that
+		// target an older version intact.
 		return JAVA_VERSION_17
+	} else {
+		return JAVA_VERSION_11
 	}
 }