diff --git a/android/bazel_handler.go b/android/bazel_handler.go
index 312f009..40a5a73 100644
--- a/android/bazel_handler.go
+++ b/android/bazel_handler.go
@@ -106,7 +106,7 @@
 	bazelPath    string
 	outputBase   string
 	workspaceDir string
-	buildDir     string
+	soongOutDir  string
 	metricsDir   string
 }
 
@@ -254,7 +254,7 @@
 
 func bazelPathsFromConfig(c *config) (*bazelPaths, error) {
 	p := bazelPaths{
-		buildDir: c.buildDir,
+		soongOutDir: c.soongOutDir,
 	}
 	missingEnvVars := []string{}
 	if len(c.Getenv("BAZEL_HOME")) > 1 {
@@ -382,7 +382,7 @@
 	bazelCmd.Env = append(os.Environ(),
 		"HOME="+paths.homeDir,
 		pwdPrefix(),
-		"BUILD_DIR="+absolutePath(paths.buildDir),
+		"BUILD_DIR="+absolutePath(paths.soongOutDir),
 		// Make OUT_DIR absolute here so tools/bazel.sh uses the correct
 		// OUT_DIR at <root>/out, instead of <root>/out/soong/workspace/out.
 		"OUT_DIR="+absolutePath(paths.outDir()),
@@ -599,24 +599,24 @@
 // Returns a path containing build-related metadata required for interfacing
 // with Bazel. Example: out/soong/bazel.
 func (p *bazelPaths) intermediatesDir() string {
-	return filepath.Join(p.buildDir, "bazel")
+	return filepath.Join(p.soongOutDir, "bazel")
 }
 
 // Returns the path where the contents of the @soong_injection repository live.
 // It is used by Soong to tell Bazel things it cannot over the command line.
 func (p *bazelPaths) injectedFilesDir() string {
-	return filepath.Join(p.buildDir, bazel.SoongInjectionDirName)
+	return filepath.Join(p.soongOutDir, bazel.SoongInjectionDirName)
 }
 
 // Returns the path of the synthetic Bazel workspace that contains a symlink
 // forest composed the whole source tree and BUILD files generated by bp2build.
 func (p *bazelPaths) syntheticWorkspaceDir() string {
-	return filepath.Join(p.buildDir, "workspace")
+	return filepath.Join(p.soongOutDir, "workspace")
 }
 
 // Returns the path to the top level out dir ($OUT_DIR).
 func (p *bazelPaths) outDir() string {
-	return filepath.Dir(p.buildDir)
+	return filepath.Dir(p.soongOutDir)
 }
 
 // Issues commands to Bazel to receive results for all cquery requests
diff --git a/android/bazel_handler_test.go b/android/bazel_handler_test.go
index f1fabec..557faea 100644
--- a/android/bazel_handler_test.go
+++ b/android/bazel_handler_test.go
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@
 func testBazelContext(t *testing.T, bazelCommandResults map[bazelCommand]string) (*bazelContext, string) {
 	t.Helper()
 	p := bazelPaths{
-		buildDir:     t.TempDir(),
+		soongOutDir:  t.TempDir(),
 		outputBase:   "outputbase",
 		workspaceDir: "workspace_dir",
 	}
@@ -114,5 +114,5 @@
 		bazelRunner: runner,
 		paths:       &p,
 		requests:    map[cqueryKey]bool{},
-	}, p.buildDir
+	}, p.soongOutDir
 }
diff --git a/android/bazel_paths.go b/android/bazel_paths.go
index c09d218..a4bd2ef 100644
--- a/android/bazel_paths.go
+++ b/android/bazel_paths.go
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@
 	}
 
 	outputPath := OutputPath{basePath{"", ""},
-		ctx.Config().buildDir,
+		ctx.Config().soongOutDir,
 		ctx.Config().BazelContext.OutputBase()}
 
 	return BazelOutPath{
diff --git a/android/config.go b/android/config.go
index 23423b7..b69963f 100644
--- a/android/config.go
+++ b/android/config.go
@@ -67,12 +67,12 @@
 }
 
 // BuildDir returns the build output directory for the configuration.
-func (c Config) BuildDir() string {
-	return c.buildDir
+func (c Config) SoongOutDir() string {
+	return c.soongOutDir
 }
 
-func (c Config) NinjaBuildDir() string {
-	return c.buildDir
+func (c Config) OutDir() string {
+	return c.soongOutDir
 }
 
 func (c Config) DebugCompilation() bool {
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@
 
 	deviceConfig *deviceConfig
 
-	buildDir       string // the path of the build output directory
+	soongOutDir    string // the path of the build output directory
 	moduleListFile string // the path to the file which lists blueprint files to parse.
 
 	env       map[string]string
@@ -283,11 +283,11 @@
 
 // NullConfig returns a mostly empty Config for use by standalone tools like dexpreopt_gen that
 // use the android package.
-func NullConfig(buildDir string) Config {
+func NullConfig(soongOutDir string) Config {
 	return Config{
 		config: &config{
-			buildDir: buildDir,
-			fs:       pathtools.OsFs,
+			soongOutDir: soongOutDir,
+			fs:          pathtools.OsFs,
 		},
 	}
 }
@@ -319,7 +319,7 @@
 			ShippingApiLevel:                  stringPtr("30"),
 		},
 
-		buildDir:     buildDir,
+		soongOutDir:  buildDir,
 		captureBuild: true,
 		env:          envCopy,
 
@@ -397,7 +397,7 @@
 // multiple runs in the same program execution is carried over (such as Bazel
 // context or environment deps).
 func ConfigForAdditionalRun(c Config) (Config, error) {
-	newConfig, err := NewConfig(c.buildDir, c.moduleListFile, c.env)
+	newConfig, err := NewConfig(c.soongOutDir, c.moduleListFile, c.env)
 	if err != nil {
 		return Config{}, err
 	}
@@ -408,14 +408,14 @@
 
 // NewConfig creates a new Config object. The srcDir argument specifies the path
 // to the root source directory. It also loads the config file, if found.
-func NewConfig(buildDir string, moduleListFile string, availableEnv map[string]string) (Config, error) {
+func NewConfig(soongOutDir string, moduleListFile string, availableEnv map[string]string) (Config, error) {
 	// Make a config with default options.
 	config := &config{
-		ProductVariablesFileName: filepath.Join(buildDir, productVariablesFileName),
+		ProductVariablesFileName: filepath.Join(soongOutDir, productVariablesFileName),
 
 		env: availableEnv,
 
-		buildDir:          buildDir,
+		soongOutDir:       soongOutDir,
 		multilibConflicts: make(map[ArchType]bool),
 
 		moduleListFile: moduleListFile,
@@ -428,7 +428,7 @@
 
 	// Soundness check of the build and source directories. This won't catch strange
 	// configurations with symlinks, but at least checks the obvious case.
-	absBuildDir, err := filepath.Abs(buildDir)
+	absBuildDir, err := filepath.Abs(soongOutDir)
 	if err != nil {
 		return Config{}, err
 	}
@@ -448,7 +448,7 @@
 		return Config{}, err
 	}
 
-	KatiEnabledMarkerFile := filepath.Join(buildDir, ".soong.kati_enabled")
+	KatiEnabledMarkerFile := filepath.Join(soongOutDir, ".soong.kati_enabled")
 	if _, err := os.Stat(absolutePath(KatiEnabledMarkerFile)); err == nil {
 		config.katiEnabled = true
 	}
@@ -556,7 +556,7 @@
 // BlueprintToolLocation returns the directory containing build system tools
 // from Blueprint, like soong_zip and merge_zips.
 func (c *config) BlueprintToolLocation() string {
-	return filepath.Join(c.buildDir, "host", c.PrebuiltOS(), "bin")
+	return filepath.Join(c.soongOutDir, "host", c.PrebuiltOS(), "bin")
 }
 
 var _ bootstrap.ConfigBlueprintToolLocation = (*config)(nil)
diff --git a/android/fixture.go b/android/fixture.go
index fd051a7..728f031 100644
--- a/android/fixture.go
+++ b/android/fixture.go
@@ -834,7 +834,7 @@
 func (r *TestResult) NormalizePathForTesting(path Path) string {
 	pathContext := PathContextForTesting(r.Config)
 	pathAsString := path.String()
-	if rel, isRel := MaybeRel(pathContext, r.Config.BuildDir(), pathAsString); isRel {
+	if rel, isRel := MaybeRel(pathContext, r.Config.SoongOutDir(), pathAsString); isRel {
 		return rel
 	}
 	return pathAsString
diff --git a/android/paths.go b/android/paths.go
index 71caaab..a733558 100644
--- a/android/paths.go
+++ b/android/paths.go
@@ -186,13 +186,13 @@
 	// A standard build has the following structure:
 	//   ../top/
 	//          out/ - make install files go here.
-	//          out/soong - this is the buildDir passed to NewTestConfig()
+	//          out/soong - this is the soongOutDir passed to NewTestConfig()
 	//          ... - the source files
 	//
 	// This function converts a path so that it appears relative to the ../top/ directory, i.e.
-	// * Make install paths, which have the pattern "buildDir/../<path>" are converted into the top
+	// * Make install paths, which have the pattern "soongOutDir/../<path>" are converted into the top
 	//   relative path "out/<path>"
-	// * Soong install paths and other writable paths, which have the pattern "buildDir/<path>" are
+	// * Soong install paths and other writable paths, which have the pattern "soongOutDir/<path>" are
 	//   converted into the top relative path "out/soong/<path>".
 	// * Source paths are already relative to the top.
 	// * Phony paths are not relative to anything.
@@ -211,7 +211,7 @@
 	Path
 
 	// return the path to the build directory.
-	getBuildDir() string
+	getSoongOutDir() string
 
 	// the writablePath method doesn't directly do anything,
 	// but it allows a struct to distinguish between whether or not it implements the WritablePath interface
@@ -992,7 +992,7 @@
 	}
 
 	// absolute path already checked by validateSafePath
-	if strings.HasPrefix(ret.String(), ctx.Config().buildDir) {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(ret.String(), ctx.Config().soongOutDir) {
 		return ret, fmt.Errorf("source path %q is in output", ret.String())
 	}
 
@@ -1008,7 +1008,7 @@
 	}
 
 	// absolute path already checked by validatePath
-	if strings.HasPrefix(ret.String(), ctx.Config().buildDir) {
+	if strings.HasPrefix(ret.String(), ctx.Config().soongOutDir) {
 		return ret, fmt.Errorf("source path %q is in output", ret.String())
 	}
 
@@ -1151,7 +1151,7 @@
 	basePath
 
 	// The soong build directory, i.e. Config.BuildDir()
-	buildDir string
+	soongOutDir string
 
 	fullPath string
 }
@@ -1167,8 +1167,8 @@
 	return p
 }
 
-func (p OutputPath) getBuildDir() string {
-	return p.buildDir
+func (p OutputPath) getSoongOutDir() string {
+	return p.soongOutDir
 }
 
 func (p OutputPath) RelativeToTop() Path {
@@ -1176,8 +1176,8 @@
 }
 
 func (p OutputPath) outputPathRelativeToTop() OutputPath {
-	p.fullPath = StringPathRelativeToTop(p.buildDir, p.fullPath)
-	p.buildDir = OutSoongDir
+	p.fullPath = StringPathRelativeToTop(p.soongOutDir, p.fullPath)
+	p.soongOutDir = OutSoongDir
 	return p
 }
 
@@ -1218,12 +1218,12 @@
 	if err != nil {
 		reportPathError(ctx, err)
 	}
-	fullPath := filepath.Join(ctx.Config().buildDir, path)
+	fullPath := filepath.Join(ctx.Config().soongOutDir, path)
 	path = fullPath[len(fullPath)-len(path):]
-	return OutputPath{basePath{path, ""}, ctx.Config().buildDir, fullPath}
+	return OutputPath{basePath{path, ""}, ctx.Config().soongOutDir, fullPath}
 }
 
-// PathsForOutput returns Paths rooted from buildDir
+// PathsForOutput returns Paths rooted from soongOutDir
 func PathsForOutput(ctx PathContext, paths []string) WritablePaths {
 	ret := make(WritablePaths, len(paths))
 	for i, path := range paths {
@@ -1545,7 +1545,7 @@
 	basePath
 
 	// The soong build directory, i.e. Config.BuildDir()
-	buildDir string
+	soongOutDir string
 
 	// partitionDir is the part of the InstallPath that is automatically determined according to the context.
 	// For example, it is host/<os>-<arch> for host modules, and target/product/<device>/<partition> for device modules.
@@ -1565,12 +1565,12 @@
 
 func (p InstallPath) RelativeToTop() Path {
 	ensureTestOnly()
-	p.buildDir = OutSoongDir
+	p.soongOutDir = OutSoongDir
 	return p
 }
 
-func (p InstallPath) getBuildDir() string {
-	return p.buildDir
+func (p InstallPath) getSoongOutDir() string {
+	return p.soongOutDir
 }
 
 func (p InstallPath) ReplaceExtension(ctx PathContext, ext string) OutputPath {
@@ -1585,9 +1585,9 @@
 func (p InstallPath) String() string {
 	if p.makePath {
 		// Make path starts with out/ instead of out/soong.
-		return filepath.Join(p.buildDir, "../", p.path)
+		return filepath.Join(p.soongOutDir, "../", p.path)
 	} else {
-		return filepath.Join(p.buildDir, p.path)
+		return filepath.Join(p.soongOutDir, p.path)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1596,9 +1596,9 @@
 // The ./soong is dropped if the install path is for Make.
 func (p InstallPath) PartitionDir() string {
 	if p.makePath {
-		return filepath.Join(p.buildDir, "../", p.partitionDir)
+		return filepath.Join(p.soongOutDir, "../", p.partitionDir)
 	} else {
-		return filepath.Join(p.buildDir, p.partitionDir)
+		return filepath.Join(p.soongOutDir, p.partitionDir)
 	}
 }
 
@@ -1694,7 +1694,7 @@
 
 	base := InstallPath{
 		basePath:     basePath{partionPath, ""},
-		buildDir:     ctx.Config().buildDir,
+		soongOutDir:  ctx.Config().soongOutDir,
 		partitionDir: partionPath,
 		makePath:     false,
 	}
@@ -1705,7 +1705,7 @@
 func pathForNdkOrSdkInstall(ctx PathContext, prefix string, paths []string) InstallPath {
 	base := InstallPath{
 		basePath:     basePath{prefix, ""},
-		buildDir:     ctx.Config().buildDir,
+		soongOutDir:  ctx.Config().soongOutDir,
 		partitionDir: prefix,
 		makePath:     false,
 	}
@@ -1851,7 +1851,7 @@
 
 func (p PhonyPath) writablePath() {}
 
-func (p PhonyPath) getBuildDir() string {
+func (p PhonyPath) getSoongOutDir() string {
 	// A phone path cannot contain any / so cannot be relative to the build directory.
 	return ""
 }
diff --git a/android/singleton.go b/android/singleton.go
index bb6614d..7ff96c9 100644
--- a/android/singleton.go
+++ b/android/singleton.go
@@ -54,10 +54,10 @@
 
 	RequireNinjaVersion(major, minor, micro int)
 
-	// SetNinjaBuildDir sets the value of the top-level "builddir" Ninja variable
+	// SetOutDir sets the value of the top-level "builddir" Ninja variable
 	// that controls where Ninja stores its build log files.  This value can be
 	// set at most one time for a single build, later calls are ignored.
-	SetNinjaBuildDir(pctx PackageContext, value string)
+	SetOutDir(pctx PackageContext, value string)
 
 	// Eval takes a string with embedded ninja variables, and returns a string
 	// with all of the variables recursively expanded. Any variables references
@@ -180,8 +180,8 @@
 	addPhony(s.Config(), name, deps...)
 }
 
-func (s *singletonContextAdaptor) SetNinjaBuildDir(pctx PackageContext, value string) {
-	s.SingletonContext.SetNinjaBuildDir(pctx.PackageContext, value)
+func (s *singletonContextAdaptor) SetOutDir(pctx PackageContext, value string) {
+	s.SingletonContext.SetOutDir(pctx.PackageContext, value)
 }
 
 func (s *singletonContextAdaptor) Eval(pctx PackageContext, ninjaStr string) (string, error) {
diff --git a/android/test_asserts.go b/android/test_asserts.go
index edeb408..064f656 100644
--- a/android/test_asserts.go
+++ b/android/test_asserts.go
@@ -77,14 +77,14 @@
 // StringPathRelativeToTop on the actual string path.
 func AssertStringPathRelativeToTopEquals(t *testing.T, message string, config Config, expected string, actual string) {
 	t.Helper()
-	AssertStringEquals(t, message, expected, StringPathRelativeToTop(config.buildDir, actual))
+	AssertStringEquals(t, message, expected, StringPathRelativeToTop(config.soongOutDir, actual))
 }
 
 // AssertStringPathsRelativeToTopEquals checks if the expected value is equal to the result of
 // calling StringPathsRelativeToTop on the actual string paths.
 func AssertStringPathsRelativeToTopEquals(t *testing.T, message string, config Config, expected []string, actual []string) {
 	t.Helper()
-	AssertDeepEquals(t, message, expected, StringPathsRelativeToTop(config.buildDir, actual))
+	AssertDeepEquals(t, message, expected, StringPathsRelativeToTop(config.soongOutDir, actual))
 }
 
 // AssertErrorMessageEquals checks if the error is not nil and has the expected message. If it does
diff --git a/android/testing.go b/android/testing.go
index 6ba8e3c..e25e5c5 100644
--- a/android/testing.go
+++ b/android/testing.go
@@ -664,15 +664,15 @@
 // containing at most one instance of the temporary build directory at the start of the path while
 // this assumes that there can be any number at any position.
 func normalizeStringRelativeToTop(config Config, s string) string {
-	// The buildDir usually looks something like: /tmp/testFoo2345/001
+	// The soongOutDir usually looks something like: /tmp/testFoo2345/001
 	//
-	// Replace any usage of the buildDir with out/soong, e.g. replace "/tmp/testFoo2345/001" with
+	// Replace any usage of the soongOutDir with out/soong, e.g. replace "/tmp/testFoo2345/001" with
 	// "out/soong".
-	outSoongDir := filepath.Clean(config.buildDir)
+	outSoongDir := filepath.Clean(config.soongOutDir)
 	re := regexp.MustCompile(`\Q` + outSoongDir + `\E\b`)
 	s = re.ReplaceAllString(s, "out/soong")
 
-	// Replace any usage of the buildDir/.. with out, e.g. replace "/tmp/testFoo2345" with
+	// Replace any usage of the soongOutDir/.. with out, e.g. replace "/tmp/testFoo2345" with
 	// "out". This must come after the previous replacement otherwise this would replace
 	// "/tmp/testFoo2345/001" with "out/001" instead of "out/soong".
 	outDir := filepath.Dir(outSoongDir)
@@ -991,7 +991,7 @@
 	}
 	p := path.String()
 	if w, ok := path.(WritablePath); ok {
-		rel, err := filepath.Rel(w.getBuildDir(), p)
+		rel, err := filepath.Rel(w.getSoongOutDir(), p)
 		if err != nil {
 			panic(err)
 		}
diff --git a/android/writedocs.go b/android/writedocs.go
index 67b9aa3..c380a3d 100644
--- a/android/writedocs.go
+++ b/android/writedocs.go
@@ -34,12 +34,12 @@
 type docsSingleton struct{}
 
 func primaryBuilderPath(ctx SingletonContext) Path {
-	buildDir := absolutePath(ctx.Config().BuildDir())
+	soongOutDir := absolutePath(ctx.Config().SoongOutDir())
 	binary := absolutePath(os.Args[0])
-	primaryBuilder, err := filepath.Rel(buildDir, binary)
+	primaryBuilder, err := filepath.Rel(soongOutDir, binary)
 	if err != nil {
 		ctx.Errorf("path to primary builder %q is not in build dir %q (%q)",
-			os.Args[0], ctx.Config().BuildDir(), err)
+			os.Args[0], ctx.Config().SoongOutDir(), err)
 	}
 
 	return PathForOutput(ctx, primaryBuilder)