diff --git a/android/config.go b/android/config.go
index 8090889..e0f3a91 100644
--- a/android/config.go
+++ b/android/config.go
@@ -1624,21 +1624,33 @@
 func splitConfiguredJarPair(str string) (string, string, error) {
 	pair := strings.SplitN(str, ":", 2)
 	if len(pair) == 2 {
-		return pair[0], pair[1], nil
+		apex := pair[0]
+		jar := pair[1]
+		if apex == "" {
+			return apex, jar, fmt.Errorf("invalid apex '%s' in <apex>:<jar> pair '%s', expected format: <apex>:<jar>", apex, str)
+		}
+		return apex, jar, nil
 	} else {
 		return "error-apex", "error-jar", fmt.Errorf("malformed (apex, jar) pair: '%s', expected format: <apex>:<jar>", str)
 	}
 }
 
-// CreateTestConfiguredJarList is a function to create ConfiguredJarList for
-// tests.
+// CreateTestConfiguredJarList is a function to create ConfiguredJarList for tests.
 func CreateTestConfiguredJarList(list []string) ConfiguredJarList {
-	apexes, jars, err := splitListOfPairsIntoPairOfLists(list)
+	// Create the ConfiguredJarList in as similar way as it is created at runtime by marshalling to
+	// a json list of strings and then unmarshalling into a ConfiguredJarList instance.
+	b, err := json.Marshal(list)
 	if err != nil {
 		panic(err)
 	}
 
-	return ConfiguredJarList{apexes, jars}
+	var jarList ConfiguredJarList
+	err = json.Unmarshal(b, &jarList)
+	if err != nil {
+		panic(err)
+	}
+
+	return jarList
 }
 
 // EmptyConfiguredJarList returns an empty jar list.
diff --git a/android/config_test.go b/android/config_test.go
index 7bfc800..a11115d 100644
--- a/android/config_test.go
+++ b/android/config_test.go
@@ -100,6 +100,22 @@
 		assertStringEquals(t, "apex1:jarA", list1.String())
 	})
 
+	t.Run("create invalid - missing apex", func(t *testing.T) {
+		defer func() {
+			err := recover().(error)
+			assertStringEquals(t, "malformed (apex, jar) pair: 'jarA', expected format: <apex>:<jar>", err.Error())
+		}()
+		CreateTestConfiguredJarList([]string{"jarA"})
+	})
+
+	t.Run("create invalid - empty apex", func(t *testing.T) {
+		defer func() {
+			err := recover().(error)
+			assertStringEquals(t, "invalid apex '' in <apex>:<jar> pair ':jarA', expected format: <apex>:<jar>", err.Error())
+		}()
+		CreateTestConfiguredJarList([]string{":jarA"})
+	})
+
 	list2 := list1.Append("apex2", "jarB")
 	t.Run("append", func(t *testing.T) {
 		assertStringEquals(t, "apex1:jarA,apex2:jarB", list2.String())