diff --git a/android/proto.go b/android/proto.go
index 0cf7c26..801837e 100644
--- a/android/proto.go
+++ b/android/proto.go
@@ -23,8 +23,7 @@
 // generate the source.
 
 func ProtoFlags(ctx ModuleContext, p *ProtoProperties) []string {
-	// -I . must come first, it affects where protoc places the output files.
-	protoFlags := []string{"-I ."}
+	protoFlags := []string{}
 
 	if len(p.Proto.Local_include_dirs) > 0 {
 		localProtoIncludeDirs := PathsForModuleSrc(ctx, p.Proto.Local_include_dirs)
@@ -38,6 +37,13 @@
 	return protoFlags
 }
 
+func ProtoCanonicalPathFromRoot(ctx ModuleContext, p *ProtoProperties) bool {
+	if p.Proto.Canonical_path_from_root == nil {
+		return true
+	}
+	return *p.Proto.Canonical_path_from_root
+}
+
 // ProtoDir returns the module's "gen/proto" directory
 func ProtoDir(ctx ModuleContext) ModuleGenPath {
 	return PathForModuleGen(ctx, "proto")
@@ -59,5 +65,14 @@
 		// list of directories relative to the bp file that will
 		// be added to the protoc include paths.
 		Local_include_dirs []string
+
+		// whether to identify the proto files from the root of the
+		// source tree (the original method in Android, useful for
+		// android-specific protos), or relative from where they were
+		// specified (useful for external/third party protos).
+		//
+		// This defaults to true today, but is expected to default to
+		// false in the future.
+		Canonical_path_from_root *bool
 	} `android:"arch_variant"`
 }