diff --git a/cc/cc.go b/cc/cc.go
index d47427d4d..e47e3fcb2 100644
--- a/cc/cc.go
+++ b/cc/cc.go
@@ -2463,8 +2463,10 @@ func (c *Module) DepsMutator(actx android.BottomUpMutatorContext) {
 				// Replace device_kernel_headers with generated_kernel_headers
 				// for inline kernel building
 				if entry == "device_kernel_headers" || entry == "qti_kernel_headers" {
-					newHeaderLibs = append(newHeaderLibs, "generated_kernel_headers")
-					continue
+					if (ctx.Config().Getenv("INLINE_KERNEL_BUILDING") == "true") {
+						newHeaderLibs = append(newHeaderLibs, "generated_kernel_headers")
+						continue
+					}
 				}
 				newHeaderLibs = append(newHeaderLibs, entry)
 			}