diff --git a/core/local_systemsdk.mk b/core/local_systemsdk.mk
index 6dab346545..49085fd0d8 100644
--- a/core/local_systemsdk.mk
+++ b/core/local_systemsdk.mk
@@ -25,7 +25,12 @@ ifdef BOARD_SYSTEMSDK_VERSIONS
   ifneq (,$(filter JAVA_LIBRARIES APPS,$(LOCAL_MODULE_CLASS)))
     ifndef LOCAL_SDK_VERSION
       ifeq ($(_is_vendor_app),true)
-        LOCAL_SDK_VERSION := system_current
+        ifeq (,$(findstring __auto_generated_rro,$(LOCAL_MODULE)))
+          # Runtime resource overlay for framework-res is exempted from building
+          # against System SDK.
+          # TODO(b/35859726): remove this exception
+          LOCAL_SDK_VERSION := system_current
+        endif
       endif
     endif
   endif