diff --git a/cc/cc.go b/cc/cc.go
index b1c1264..5cd3b04 100644
--- a/cc/cc.go
+++ b/cc/cc.go
@@ -129,6 +129,9 @@
 	// Used for host bionic
 	LinkerFlagsFile string
 	DynamicLinker   string
+
+	// List of libs that need to be excluded for APEX variant
+	ExcludeLibsForApex []string
 }
 
 // PathDeps is a struct containing file paths to dependencies of a module.
@@ -572,6 +575,9 @@
 	staticUnwinder bool
 
 	makeSuffix string
+
+	// Whether or not this dependency has to be followed for the apex variants
+	excludeInApex bool
 }
 
 // header returns true if the libraryDependencyTag is tagging a header lib dependency.
@@ -1950,6 +1956,9 @@
 		if inList(lib, deps.ReexportStaticLibHeaders) {
 			depTag.reexportFlags = true
 		}
+		if inList(lib, deps.ExcludeLibsForApex) {
+			depTag.excludeInApex = true
+		}
 
 		if impl, ok := syspropImplLibraries[lib]; ok {
 			lib = impl
@@ -1987,6 +1996,9 @@
 		if inList(lib, deps.ReexportSharedLibHeaders) {
 			depTag.reexportFlags = true
 		}
+		if inList(lib, deps.ExcludeLibsForApex) {
+			depTag.excludeInApex = true
+		}
 
 		if impl, ok := syspropImplLibraries[lib]; ok {
 			lib = impl
@@ -2416,6 +2428,10 @@
 				return
 			}
 
+			if !apexInfo.IsForPlatform() && libDepTag.excludeInApex {
+				return
+			}
+
 			depExporterInfo := ctx.OtherModuleProvider(dep, FlagExporterInfoProvider).(FlagExporterInfo)
 
 			var ptr *android.Paths
@@ -2435,6 +2451,7 @@
 					}
 					return
 				}
+
 				sharedLibraryInfo := ctx.OtherModuleProvider(dep, SharedLibraryInfoProvider).(SharedLibraryInfo)
 				sharedLibraryStubsInfo := ctx.OtherModuleProvider(dep, SharedLibraryImplementationStubsInfoProvider).(SharedLibraryImplementationStubsInfo)
 
@@ -3015,6 +3032,10 @@
 			// linked; the dependency is used only during the compilation phase.
 			return false
 		}
+
+		if isLibDepTag && libDepTag.excludeInApex {
+			return false
+		}
 	}
 	if depTag == stubImplDepTag || depTag == llndkImplDep {
 		// We don't track beyond LLNDK or from an implementation library to its stubs.
diff --git a/cc/linker.go b/cc/linker.go
index 9d4a643..7bc4105 100644
--- a/cc/linker.go
+++ b/cc/linker.go
@@ -174,6 +174,15 @@
 			// variants.
 			Shared_libs []string
 		}
+		Apex struct {
+			// list of shared libs that should not be used to build the apex variant of
+			// the C/C++ module.
+			Exclude_shared_libs []string
+
+			// list of static libs that should not be used to build the apex ramdisk
+			// variant of the C/C++ module.
+			Exclude_static_libs []string
+		}
 	}
 
 	// make android::build:GetBuildNumber() available containing the build ID.
@@ -240,6 +249,16 @@
 	deps.StaticLibs = removeListFromList(deps.StaticLibs, linker.Properties.Exclude_static_libs)
 	deps.WholeStaticLibs = removeListFromList(deps.WholeStaticLibs, linker.Properties.Exclude_static_libs)
 
+	// Record the libraries that need to be excluded when building for APEX. Unlike other
+	// target.*.exclude_* properties, SharedLibs and StaticLibs are not modified here because
+	// this module hasn't yet passed the apexMutator. Therefore, we can't tell whether this is
+	// an apex variant of not. Record the exclude list in the deps struct for now. The info is
+	// used to mark the dependency tag when adding dependencies to the deps. Then inside
+	// GenerateAndroidBuildActions, the marked dependencies are ignored (i.e. not used) for APEX
+	// variants.
+	deps.ExcludeLibsForApex = append(deps.ExcludeLibsForApex, linker.Properties.Target.Apex.Exclude_shared_libs...)
+	deps.ExcludeLibsForApex = append(deps.ExcludeLibsForApex, linker.Properties.Target.Apex.Exclude_static_libs...)
+
 	if Bool(linker.Properties.Use_version_lib) {
 		deps.WholeStaticLibs = append(deps.WholeStaticLibs, "libbuildversion")
 	}