diff --git a/core/Makefile b/core/Makefile
index 955b360..8bd6796 100644
--- a/core/Makefile
+++ b/core/Makefile
@@ -4566,7 +4566,7 @@
 
 $(APEX_INFO_FILE): $(HOST_OUT_EXECUTABLES)/dump_apex_info $(apex_vintf_files)
 	@echo "Creating apex-info-file in $(PRODUCT_OUT) "
-	$< --root_dir $(PRODUCT_OUT) --out_file $@
+	$< --root_dir $(PRODUCT_OUT)
 
 apex_vintf_files :=
 
@@ -4768,7 +4768,6 @@
 ifdef PRODUCT_SHIPPING_API_LEVEL
 check_vintf_compatible_args += --property ro.product.first_api_level=$(PRODUCT_SHIPPING_API_LEVEL)
 endif # PRODUCT_SHIPPING_API_LEVEL
-check_vintf_compatible_args += --apex-info-file $(APEX_INFO_FILE)
 
 $(check_vintf_compatible_log): PRIVATE_CHECK_VINTF_ARGS := $(check_vintf_compatible_args)
 $(check_vintf_compatible_log): PRIVATE_CHECK_VINTF_DEPS := $(check_vintf_compatible_deps)
diff --git a/tools/releasetools/check_target_files_vintf.py b/tools/releasetools/check_target_files_vintf.py
index b32b85c..a254cab 100755
--- a/tools/releasetools/check_target_files_vintf.py
+++ b/tools/releasetools/check_target_files_vintf.py
@@ -129,8 +129,8 @@
 
   dirmap = GetDirmap(input_tmp)
 
-  apex_root, apex_info_file = PrepareApexDirectory(input_tmp)
-  dirmap['/apex'] = apex_root
+  # Simulate apexd from target-files.
+  dirmap['/apex'] = PrepareApexDirectory(input_tmp)
 
   args_for_skus = GetArgsForSkus(info_dict)
   shipping_api_level_args = GetArgsForShippingApiLevel(info_dict)
@@ -140,7 +140,6 @@
       'checkvintf',
       '--check-compat',
   ]
-  common_command += ['--apex-info-file', apex_info_file]
 
   for device_path, real_path in sorted(dirmap.items()):
     common_command += ['--dirmap', '{}:{}'.format(device_path, real_path)]
@@ -206,27 +205,29 @@
   return patterns
 
 def PrepareApexDirectory(inp):
-  """ Prepare the APEX data.
+  """ Prepare /apex directory before running checkvintf
 
   Apex binaries do not support dirmaps, in order to use these binaries we
   need to move the APEXes from the extracted target file archives to the
   expected device locations.
 
-  The APEXes will also be extracted under the APEX/ directory
-  matching what would be on the target.
+  This simulates how apexd activates APEXes.
+  1. create {inp}/APEX which is treated as a "/" on device.
+  2. copy apexes from target-files to {root}/{partition}/apex.
+  3. mount apexes under {root}/{partition}/apex at {root}/apex.
+  4. generate info files with dump_apex_info.
 
-  Create the following structure under the input inp directory:
-       APEX/apex             # Extracted APEXes
-       APEX/system/apex/     # System APEXes
-       APEX/vendor/apex/     # Vendor APEXes
+  We'll get the following layout
+       {inp}/APEX/apex             # Activated APEXes + some info files
+       {inp}/APEX/system/apex      # System APEXes
+       {inp}/APEX/vendor/apex      # Vendor APEXes
        ...
 
   Args:
     inp: path to the directory that contains the extracted target files archive.
 
   Returns:
-    extracted apex directory
-    apex-info-list.xml file
+    directory representing /apex on device
   """
 
   deapexer = 'deapexer'
@@ -273,15 +274,19 @@
   root_dir_name = 'APEX'
   root_dir = os.path.join(inp, root_dir_name)
   extracted_root = os.path.join(root_dir, 'apex')
-  apex_info_file = os.path.join(extracted_root, 'apex-info-list.xml')
 
-  # Always create APEX directory for dirmap
+  # Always create /apex directory for dirmap
   os.makedirs(extracted_root)
 
   create_info_file = False
 
   # Loop through search path looking for and processing apex/ directories.
   for device_path, target_files_rel_paths in DIR_SEARCH_PATHS.items():
+    # checkvintf only needs vendor apexes. skip other partitions for efficiency
+    if device_path not in ['/vendor', '/odm']:
+      continue
+    # First, copy VENDOR/apex/foo.apex to APEX/vendor/apex/foo.apex
+    # Then, extract the contents to APEX/apex/foo/
     for target_files_rel_path in target_files_rel_paths:
       inp_partition = os.path.join(inp, target_files_rel_path,"apex")
       if os.path.exists(inp_partition):
@@ -292,16 +297,11 @@
         create_info_file = True
 
   if create_info_file:
-    ### Create apex-info-list.xml
-    dump_cmd = ['dump_apex_info',
-                '--root_dir', root_dir,
-                '--out_file', apex_info_file]
+    ### Dump apex info files
+    dump_cmd = ['dump_apex_info', '--root_dir', root_dir]
     common.RunAndCheckOutput(dump_cmd)
-    if not os.path.exists(apex_info_file):
-      raise RuntimeError('Failed to create apex info file %s', apex_info_file)
-    logger.info('Created %s', apex_info_file)
 
-  return extracted_root, apex_info_file
+  return extracted_root
 
 def CheckVintfFromTargetFiles(inp, info_dict=None):
   """