diff --git a/apex/apex.go b/apex/apex.go
index 4247db47a..6afbd4a7c 100644
--- a/apex/apex.go
+++ b/apex/apex.go
@@ -2740,11 +2740,6 @@ func (a *apexBundle) minSdkVersionValue(ctx android.EarlyModuleContext) string {
 		return ""
 	}
 
-	archMinApiLevel := cc.MinApiForArch(ctx, a.MultiTargets()[0].Arch.ArchType)
-	if !archMinApiLevel.IsNone() && archMinApiLevel.CompareTo(minApiLevel) > 0 {
-		minApiLevel = archMinApiLevel
-	}
-
 	overrideMinSdkValue := ctx.DeviceConfig().ApexGlobalMinSdkVersionOverride()
 	overrideApiLevel := minSdkVersionFromValue(ctx, overrideMinSdkValue)
 	if !overrideApiLevel.IsNone() && overrideApiLevel.CompareTo(minApiLevel) > 0 {
diff --git a/apex/apex_test.go b/apex/apex_test.go
index e130fccc8..647a575d6 100644
--- a/apex/apex_test.go
+++ b/apex/apex_test.go
@@ -2191,6 +2191,38 @@ func TestApexMinSdkVersion_Okay(t *testing.T) {
 	`)
 }
 
+func TestApexMinSdkVersion_MinApiForArch(t *testing.T) {
+	// Tests that an apex dependency with min_sdk_version higher than the
+	// min_sdk_version of the apex is allowed as long as the dependency's
+	// min_sdk_version is less than or equal to the api level that the
+	// architecture was introduced in.  In this case, arm64 didn't exist
+	// until api level 21, so the arm64 code will never need to run on
+	// an api level 20 device, even if other architectures of the apex
+	// will.
+	testApex(t, `
+		apex {
+			name: "myapex",
+			key: "myapex.key",
+			native_shared_libs: ["libfoo"],
+			min_sdk_version: "20",
+		}
+
+		apex_key {
+			name: "myapex.key",
+			public_key: "testkey.avbpubkey",
+			private_key: "testkey.pem",
+		}
+
+		cc_library {
+			name: "libfoo",
+			srcs: ["mylib.cpp"],
+			apex_available: ["myapex"],
+			min_sdk_version: "21",
+			stl: "none",
+		}
+	`)
+}
+
 func TestJavaStableSdkVersion(t *testing.T) {
 	testCases := []struct {
 		name          string
diff --git a/cc/api_level.go b/cc/api_level.go
index 8f9e1f6bc..fdff5cbcf 100644
--- a/cc/api_level.go
+++ b/cc/api_level.go
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ import (
 	"android/soong/android"
 )
 
-func MinApiForArch(ctx android.EarlyModuleContext,
+func minApiForArch(ctx android.EarlyModuleContext,
 	arch android.ArchType) android.ApiLevel {
 
 	switch arch {
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ func MinApiForArch(ctx android.EarlyModuleContext,
 func nativeApiLevelFromUser(ctx android.BaseModuleContext,
 	raw string) (android.ApiLevel, error) {
 
-	min := MinApiForArch(ctx, ctx.Arch().ArchType)
+	min := minApiForArch(ctx, ctx.Arch().ArchType)
 	if raw == "minimum" {
 		return min, nil
 	}
diff --git a/cc/cc.go b/cc/cc.go
index d0362fcde..eb7c639b3 100644
--- a/cc/cc.go
+++ b/cc/cc.go
@@ -3626,6 +3626,16 @@ func (c *Module) ShouldSupportSdkVersion(ctx android.BaseModuleContext,
 		return err
 	}
 
+	// A dependency only needs to support a min_sdk_version at least
+	// as high as  the api level that the architecture was introduced in.
+	// This allows introducing new architectures in the platform that
+	// need to be included in apexes that normally require an older
+	// min_sdk_version.
+	minApiForArch := minApiForArch(ctx, c.Target().Arch.ArchType)
+	if sdkVersion.LessThan(minApiForArch) {
+		sdkVersion = minApiForArch
+	}
+
 	if ver.GreaterThan(sdkVersion) {
 		return fmt.Errorf("newer SDK(%v)", ver)
 	}