diff --git a/cc/cc.go b/cc/cc.go
index caefea4..006a4a5 100644
--- a/cc/cc.go
+++ b/cc/cc.go
@@ -697,6 +697,9 @@
 }
 
 func (c *Module) SplitPerApiLevel() bool {
+	if !c.canUseSdk() {
+		return false
+	}
 	if linker, ok := c.linker.(*objectLinker); ok {
 		return linker.isCrt()
 	}
@@ -1026,7 +1029,7 @@
 
 func (c *Module) UseSdk() bool {
 	if c.canUseSdk() {
-		return String(c.Properties.Sdk_version) != "" || c.SplitPerApiLevel()
+		return String(c.Properties.Sdk_version) != ""
 	}
 	return false
 }
diff --git a/cc/linkable.go b/cc/linkable.go
index 6d8a4b7..a67cd4e 100644
--- a/cc/linkable.go
+++ b/cc/linkable.go
@@ -63,6 +63,8 @@
 	ToolchainLibrary() bool
 	NdkPrebuiltStl() bool
 	StubDecorator() bool
+
+	SplitPerApiLevel() bool
 }
 
 var (
diff --git a/cc/sdk.go b/cc/sdk.go
index b68baad..ec57f06 100644
--- a/cc/sdk.go
+++ b/cc/sdk.go
@@ -32,11 +32,11 @@
 	switch m := ctx.Module().(type) {
 	case LinkableInterface:
 		if m.AlwaysSdk() {
-			if !m.UseSdk() {
+			if !m.UseSdk() && !m.SplitPerApiLevel() {
 				ctx.ModuleErrorf("UseSdk() must return true when AlwaysSdk is set, did the factory forget to set Sdk_version?")
 			}
 			ctx.CreateVariations("sdk")
-		} else if m.UseSdk() {
+		} else if m.UseSdk() || m.SplitPerApiLevel() {
 			modules := ctx.CreateVariations("", "sdk")
 			modules[0].(*Module).Properties.Sdk_version = nil
 			modules[1].(*Module).Properties.IsSdkVariant = true