diff --git a/cc/compiler.go b/cc/compiler.go
index 2e62b0002..dca6a3c96 100644
--- a/cc/compiler.go
+++ b/cc/compiler.go
@@ -403,6 +403,10 @@ func (compiler *baseCompiler) compilerFlags(ctx ModuleContext, flags Flags, deps
 		flags.Global.CommonFlags = append(flags.Global.CommonFlags, "-D__ANDROID_RECOVERY__")
 	}
 
+	if ctx.inRecovery() || ctx.inRamdisk() || ctx.inVendorRamdisk() {
+		flags.Global.CommonFlags = append(flags.Global.CommonFlags, "-D__ANDROID_RAMDISK__")
+	}
+
 	if ctx.apexVariationName() != "" {
 		flags.Global.CommonFlags = append(flags.Global.CommonFlags, "-D__ANDROID_APEX__")
 		if ctx.Device() {