diff --git a/apex/apex.go b/apex/apex.go
index 54a335a..c5e0920 100644
--- a/apex/apex.go
+++ b/apex/apex.go
@@ -1275,6 +1275,11 @@
 	Legacy_android10_support *bool
 
 	IsCoverageVariant bool `blueprint:"mutated"`
+
+	// Whether this APEX is considered updatable or not. When set to true, this will enforce additional
+	// rules for making sure that the APEX is truely updatable. This will also disable the size optimizations
+	// like symlinking to the system libs. Default is false.
+	Updatable *bool
 }
 
 type apexTargetBundleProperties struct {
@@ -2312,6 +2317,12 @@
 		a.installable() &&
 		!proptools.Bool(a.properties.Use_vendor)
 
+	// We don't need the optimization for updatable APEXes, as it might give false signal
+	// to the system health when the APEXes are still bundled (b/149805758)
+	if proptools.Bool(a.properties.Updatable) && a.properties.ApexType == imageApex {
+		a.linkToSystemLib = false
+	}
+
 	// prepare apex_manifest.json
 	a.buildManifest(ctx, provideNativeLibs, requireNativeLibs)