diff --git a/android/Android.bp b/android/Android.bp
index 47dbc5d..487372b 100644
--- a/android/Android.bp
+++ b/android/Android.bp
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
         "package_ctx.go",
         "path_properties.go",
         "paths.go",
+        "phony.go",
         "prebuilt.go",
         "proto.go",
         "register.go",
diff --git a/android/makevars.go b/android/makevars.go
index aba4cce..0acd0f6 100644
--- a/android/makevars.go
+++ b/android/makevars.go
@@ -17,12 +17,11 @@
 import (
 	"bytes"
 	"fmt"
-	"io/ioutil"
-	"os"
 	"strconv"
 	"strings"
 
 	"github.com/google/blueprint"
+	"github.com/google/blueprint/pathtools"
 	"github.com/google/blueprint/proptools"
 )
 
@@ -84,6 +83,11 @@
 	// builder whenever a file matching the pattern as added or removed, without rerunning if a
 	// file that does not match the pattern is added to a searched directory.
 	GlobWithDeps(pattern string, excludes []string) ([]string, error)
+
+	// Phony creates a phony rule in Make, which will allow additional DistForGoal
+	// dependencies to be added to it.  Phony can be called on the same name multiple
+	// times to add additional dependencies.
+	Phony(names string, deps ...Path)
 }
 
 var _ PathContext = MakeVarsContext(nil)
@@ -130,9 +134,10 @@
 
 type makeVarsContext struct {
 	SingletonContext
-	config Config
-	pctx   PackageContext
-	vars   []makeVarsVariable
+	config  Config
+	pctx    PackageContext
+	vars    []makeVarsVariable
+	phonies []phony
 }
 
 var _ MakeVarsContext = &makeVarsContext{}
@@ -144,6 +149,11 @@
 	strict bool
 }
 
+type phony struct {
+	name string
+	deps []string
+}
+
 func (s *makeVarsSingleton) GenerateBuildActions(ctx SingletonContext) {
 	if !ctx.Config().EmbeddedInMake() {
 		return
@@ -152,11 +162,15 @@
 	outFile := absolutePath(PathForOutput(ctx,
 		"make_vars"+proptools.String(ctx.Config().productVariables.Make_suffix)+".mk").String())
 
+	lateOutFile := absolutePath(PathForOutput(ctx,
+		"late"+proptools.String(ctx.Config().productVariables.Make_suffix)+".mk").String())
+
 	if ctx.Failed() {
 		return
 	}
 
 	vars := []makeVarsVariable{}
+	var phonies []phony
 	for _, provider := range makeVarsProviders {
 		mctx := &makeVarsContext{
 			SingletonContext: ctx,
@@ -166,6 +180,7 @@
 		provider.call(mctx)
 
 		vars = append(vars, mctx.vars...)
+		phonies = append(phonies, mctx.phonies...)
 	}
 
 	if ctx.Failed() {
@@ -174,17 +189,16 @@
 
 	outBytes := s.writeVars(vars)
 
-	if _, err := os.Stat(absolutePath(outFile)); err == nil {
-		if data, err := ioutil.ReadFile(absolutePath(outFile)); err == nil {
-			if bytes.Equal(data, outBytes) {
-				return
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	if err := ioutil.WriteFile(absolutePath(outFile), outBytes, 0666); err != nil {
+	if err := pathtools.WriteFileIfChanged(outFile, outBytes, 0666); err != nil {
 		ctx.Errorf(err.Error())
 	}
+
+	lateOutBytes := s.writeLate(phonies)
+
+	if err := pathtools.WriteFileIfChanged(lateOutFile, lateOutBytes, 0666); err != nil {
+		ctx.Errorf(err.Error())
+	}
+
 }
 
 func (s *makeVarsSingleton) writeVars(vars []makeVarsVariable) []byte {
@@ -263,6 +277,26 @@
 
 	fmt.Fprintln(buf, "\nsoong-compare-var :=")
 
+	fmt.Fprintln(buf)
+
+	return buf.Bytes()
+}
+
+func (s *makeVarsSingleton) writeLate(phonies []phony) []byte {
+	buf := &bytes.Buffer{}
+
+	fmt.Fprint(buf, `# Autogenerated file
+
+# Values written by Soong read after parsing all Android.mk files.
+
+
+`)
+
+	for _, phony := range phonies {
+		fmt.Fprintf(buf, ".PHONY: %s\n", phony.name)
+		fmt.Fprintf(buf, "%s: %s\n", phony.name, strings.Join(phony.deps, "\\\n  "))
+	}
+
 	return buf.Bytes()
 }
 
@@ -299,6 +333,10 @@
 	c.addVariableRaw(name, value, strict, sort)
 }
 
+func (c *makeVarsContext) addPhony(name string, deps []string) {
+	c.phonies = append(c.phonies, phony{name, deps})
+}
+
 func (c *makeVarsContext) Strict(name, ninjaStr string) {
 	c.addVariable(name, ninjaStr, true, false)
 }
@@ -318,3 +356,7 @@
 func (c *makeVarsContext) CheckRaw(name, value string) {
 	c.addVariableRaw(name, value, false, false)
 }
+
+func (c *makeVarsContext) Phony(name string, deps ...Path) {
+	c.addPhony(name, Paths(deps).Strings())
+}
diff --git a/android/module.go b/android/module.go
index 82321f4..a488c0d 100644
--- a/android/module.go
+++ b/android/module.go
@@ -207,6 +207,10 @@
 	// Similar to blueprint.ModuleContext.Build, but takes Paths instead of []string,
 	// and performs more verification.
 	Build(pctx PackageContext, params BuildParams)
+	// Phony creates a Make-style phony rule, a rule with no commands that can depend on other
+	// phony rules or real files.  Phony can be called on the same name multiple times to add
+	// additional dependencies.
+	Phony(phony string, deps ...Path)
 
 	PrimaryModule() Module
 	FinalModule() Module
@@ -722,6 +726,7 @@
 	installFiles       InstallPaths
 	checkbuildFiles    Paths
 	noticeFiles        Paths
+	phonies            map[string]Paths
 
 	// Used by buildTargetSingleton to create checkbuild and per-directory build targets
 	// Only set on the final variant of each module
@@ -1093,26 +1098,17 @@
 	}
 
 	if len(allInstalledFiles) > 0 {
-		name := PathForPhony(ctx, namespacePrefix+ctx.ModuleName()+"-install")
-		ctx.Build(pctx, BuildParams{
-			Rule:      blueprint.Phony,
-			Output:    name,
-			Implicits: allInstalledFiles.Paths(),
-			Default:   !ctx.Config().EmbeddedInMake(),
-		})
-		deps = append(deps, name)
-		m.installTarget = name
+		name := namespacePrefix + ctx.ModuleName() + "-install"
+		ctx.Phony(name, allInstalledFiles.Paths()...)
+		m.installTarget = PathForPhony(ctx, name)
+		deps = append(deps, m.installTarget)
 	}
 
 	if len(allCheckbuildFiles) > 0 {
-		name := PathForPhony(ctx, namespacePrefix+ctx.ModuleName()+"-checkbuild")
-		ctx.Build(pctx, BuildParams{
-			Rule:      blueprint.Phony,
-			Output:    name,
-			Implicits: allCheckbuildFiles,
-		})
-		deps = append(deps, name)
-		m.checkbuildTarget = name
+		name := namespacePrefix + ctx.ModuleName() + "-checkbuild"
+		ctx.Phony(name, allCheckbuildFiles...)
+		m.checkbuildTarget = PathForPhony(ctx, name)
+		deps = append(deps, m.checkbuildTarget)
 	}
 
 	if len(deps) > 0 {
@@ -1121,12 +1117,7 @@
 			suffix = "-soong"
 		}
 
-		name := PathForPhony(ctx, namespacePrefix+ctx.ModuleName()+suffix)
-		ctx.Build(pctx, BuildParams{
-			Rule:      blueprint.Phony,
-			Outputs:   []WritablePath{name},
-			Implicits: deps,
-		})
+		ctx.Phony(namespacePrefix+ctx.ModuleName()+suffix, deps...)
 
 		m.blueprintDir = ctx.ModuleDir()
 	}
@@ -1313,6 +1304,9 @@
 		m.checkbuildFiles = append(m.checkbuildFiles, ctx.checkbuildFiles...)
 		m.initRcPaths = PathsForModuleSrc(ctx, m.commonProperties.Init_rc)
 		m.vintfFragmentsPaths = PathsForModuleSrc(ctx, m.commonProperties.Vintf_fragments)
+		for k, v := range ctx.phonies {
+			m.phonies[k] = append(m.phonies[k], v...)
+		}
 	} else if ctx.Config().AllowMissingDependencies() {
 		// If the module is not enabled it will not create any build rules, nothing will call
 		// ctx.GetMissingDependencies(), and blueprint will consider the missing dependencies to be unhandled
@@ -1460,6 +1454,7 @@
 	installFiles    InstallPaths
 	checkbuildFiles Paths
 	module          Module
+	phonies         map[string]Paths
 
 	// For tests
 	buildParams []BuildParams
@@ -1574,6 +1569,11 @@
 
 	m.bp.Build(pctx.PackageContext, convertBuildParams(params))
 }
+
+func (m *moduleContext) Phony(name string, deps ...Path) {
+	addPhony(m.config, name, deps...)
+}
+
 func (m *moduleContext) GetMissingDependencies() []string {
 	var missingDeps []string
 	missingDeps = append(missingDeps, m.Module().base().commonProperties.MissingDeps...)
@@ -2233,9 +2233,8 @@
 func (c *buildTargetSingleton) GenerateBuildActions(ctx SingletonContext) {
 	var checkbuildDeps Paths
 
-	mmTarget := func(dir string) WritablePath {
-		return PathForPhony(ctx,
-			"MODULES-IN-"+strings.Replace(filepath.Clean(dir), "/", "-", -1))
+	mmTarget := func(dir string) string {
+		return "MODULES-IN-" + strings.Replace(filepath.Clean(dir), "/", "-", -1)
 	}
 
 	modulesInDir := make(map[string]Paths)
@@ -2261,11 +2260,7 @@
 	}
 
 	// Create a top-level checkbuild target that depends on all modules
-	ctx.Build(pctx, BuildParams{
-		Rule:      blueprint.Phony,
-		Output:    PathForPhony(ctx, "checkbuild"+suffix),
-		Implicits: checkbuildDeps,
-	})
+	ctx.Phony("checkbuild"+suffix, checkbuildDeps...)
 
 	// Make will generate the MODULES-IN-* targets
 	if ctx.Config().EmbeddedInMake() {
@@ -2289,7 +2284,7 @@
 	for _, dir := range dirs {
 		p := parentDir(dir)
 		if p != "." && p != "/" {
-			modulesInDir[p] = append(modulesInDir[p], mmTarget(dir))
+			modulesInDir[p] = append(modulesInDir[p], PathForPhony(ctx, mmTarget(dir)))
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -2297,14 +2292,7 @@
 	// depends on the MODULES-IN-* targets of all of its subdirectories that contain Android.bp
 	// files.
 	for _, dir := range dirs {
-		ctx.Build(pctx, BuildParams{
-			Rule:      blueprint.Phony,
-			Output:    mmTarget(dir),
-			Implicits: modulesInDir[dir],
-			// HACK: checkbuild should be an optional build, but force it
-			// enabled for now in standalone builds
-			Default: !ctx.Config().EmbeddedInMake(),
-		})
+		ctx.Phony(mmTarget(dir), modulesInDir[dir]...)
 	}
 
 	// Create (host|host-cross|target)-<OS> phony rules to build a reduced checkbuild.
@@ -2331,23 +2319,15 @@
 			continue
 		}
 
-		name := PathForPhony(ctx, className+"-"+os.Name)
-		osClass[className] = append(osClass[className], name)
+		name := className + "-" + os.Name
+		osClass[className] = append(osClass[className], PathForPhony(ctx, name))
 
-		ctx.Build(pctx, BuildParams{
-			Rule:      blueprint.Phony,
-			Output:    name,
-			Implicits: deps,
-		})
+		ctx.Phony(name, deps...)
 	}
 
 	// Wrap those into host|host-cross|target phony rules
 	for _, class := range SortedStringKeys(osClass) {
-		ctx.Build(pctx, BuildParams{
-			Rule:      blueprint.Phony,
-			Output:    PathForPhony(ctx, class),
-			Implicits: osClass[class],
-		})
+		ctx.Phony(class, osClass[class]...)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/android/phony.go b/android/phony.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f8e5a44
--- /dev/null
+++ b/android/phony.go
@@ -0,0 +1,75 @@
+// Copyright 2020 Google Inc. All rights reserved.
+//
+// Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+// you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+// You may obtain a copy of the License at
+//
+//     http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+//
+// Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+// distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+// WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+// See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+// limitations under the License.
+
+package android
+
+import (
+	"sync"
+
+	"github.com/google/blueprint"
+)
+
+var phonyMapOnceKey = NewOnceKey("phony")
+
+type phonyMap map[string]Paths
+
+var phonyMapLock sync.Mutex
+
+func getPhonyMap(config Config) phonyMap {
+	return config.Once(phonyMapOnceKey, func() interface{} {
+		return make(phonyMap)
+	}).(phonyMap)
+}
+
+func addPhony(config Config, name string, deps ...Path) {
+	phonyMap := getPhonyMap(config)
+	phonyMapLock.Lock()
+	defer phonyMapLock.Unlock()
+	phonyMap[name] = append(phonyMap[name], deps...)
+}
+
+type phonySingleton struct {
+	phonyMap  phonyMap
+	phonyList []string
+}
+
+var _ SingletonMakeVarsProvider = (*phonySingleton)(nil)
+
+func (p *phonySingleton) GenerateBuildActions(ctx SingletonContext) {
+	p.phonyMap = getPhonyMap(ctx.Config())
+	p.phonyList = SortedStringKeys(p.phonyMap)
+	for _, phony := range p.phonyList {
+		p.phonyMap[phony] = SortedUniquePaths(p.phonyMap[phony])
+	}
+
+	if !ctx.Config().EmbeddedInMake() {
+		for _, phony := range p.phonyList {
+			ctx.Build(pctx, BuildParams{
+				Rule:      blueprint.Phony,
+				Outputs:   []WritablePath{PathForPhony(ctx, phony)},
+				Implicits: p.phonyMap[phony],
+			})
+		}
+	}
+}
+
+func (p phonySingleton) MakeVars(ctx MakeVarsContext) {
+	for _, phony := range p.phonyList {
+		ctx.Phony(phony, p.phonyMap[phony]...)
+	}
+}
+
+func phonySingletonFactory() Singleton {
+	return &phonySingleton{}
+}
diff --git a/android/register.go b/android/register.go
index ccfe01e..036a811 100644
--- a/android/register.go
+++ b/android/register.go
@@ -104,6 +104,9 @@
 
 	registerMutators(ctx.Context, preArch, preDeps, postDeps, finalDeps)
 
+	// Register phony just before makevars so it can write out its phony rules as Make rules
+	ctx.RegisterSingletonType("phony", SingletonFactoryAdaptor(phonySingletonFactory))
+
 	// Register makevars after other singletons so they can export values through makevars
 	ctx.RegisterSingletonType("makevars", SingletonFactoryAdaptor(makeVarsSingletonFunc))
 
diff --git a/android/singleton.go b/android/singleton.go
index 568398c..2c51c6c 100644
--- a/android/singleton.go
+++ b/android/singleton.go
@@ -36,6 +36,12 @@
 	Variable(pctx PackageContext, name, value string)
 	Rule(pctx PackageContext, name string, params blueprint.RuleParams, argNames ...string) blueprint.Rule
 	Build(pctx PackageContext, params BuildParams)
+
+	// Phony creates a Make-style phony rule, a rule with no commands that can depend on other
+	// phony rules or real files.  Phony can be called on the same name multiple times to add
+	// additional dependencies.
+	Phony(name string, deps ...Path)
+
 	RequireNinjaVersion(major, minor, micro int)
 
 	// SetNinjaBuildDir sets the value of the top-level "builddir" Ninja variable
@@ -156,6 +162,10 @@
 
 }
 
+func (s *singletonContextAdaptor) Phony(name string, deps ...Path) {
+	addPhony(s.Config(), name, deps...)
+}
+
 func (s *singletonContextAdaptor) SetNinjaBuildDir(pctx PackageContext, value string) {
 	s.SingletonContext.SetNinjaBuildDir(pctx.PackageContext, value)
 }
diff --git a/android/writedocs.go b/android/writedocs.go
index 7262ad8..9e43e80 100644
--- a/android/writedocs.go
+++ b/android/writedocs.go
@@ -69,9 +69,5 @@
 	})
 
 	// Add a phony target for building the documentation
-	ctx.Build(pctx, BuildParams{
-		Rule:   blueprint.Phony,
-		Output: PathForPhony(ctx, "soong_docs"),
-		Input:  docsFile,
-	})
+	ctx.Phony("soong_docs", docsFile)
 }
diff --git a/cc/cc.go b/cc/cc.go
index 8eabff5..31d35e1 100644
--- a/cc/cc.go
+++ b/cc/cc.go
@@ -3230,12 +3230,7 @@
 	})
 	// TODO(asmundak): Perhaps emit a rule to output a warning if there were no xrefTargets
 	if len(xrefTargets) > 0 {
-		ctx.Build(pctx, android.BuildParams{
-			Rule:   blueprint.Phony,
-			Output: android.PathForPhony(ctx, "xref_cxx"),
-			Inputs: xrefTargets,
-			//Default: true,
-		})
+		ctx.Phony("xref_cxx", xrefTargets...)
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/java/java.go b/java/java.go
index af68e56..9a352db 100644
--- a/java/java.go
+++ b/java/java.go
@@ -2863,11 +2863,7 @@
 	})
 	// TODO(asmundak): perhaps emit a rule to output a warning if there were no xrefTargets
 	if len(xrefTargets) > 0 {
-		ctx.Build(pctx, android.BuildParams{
-			Rule:   blueprint.Phony,
-			Output: android.PathForPhony(ctx, "xref_java"),
-			Inputs: xrefTargets,
-		})
+		ctx.Phony("xref_java", xrefTargets...)
 	}
 }