diff --git a/camera/device/3.5/ICameraDevice.hal b/camera/device/3.5/ICameraDevice.hal
index e7e8dd3..a77380f 100644
--- a/camera/device/3.5/ICameraDevice.hal
+++ b/camera/device/3.5/ICameraDevice.hal
@@ -36,11 +36,24 @@
      * this logical camera device. This information may not change between consecutive calls.
      *
      * Note that HAL must support this function for physical camera IDs that are
-     * not exposed via ICameraProvider::getCameraIdList().
+     * not exposed via ICameraProvider::getCameraIdList(). Calling
+     * getCameraDeviceInterface_V3_x() on these camera IDs must return ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT.
+     *
+     * The characteristics of all cameras returned by
+     * ICameraProvider::getCameraIdList() must be queried via
+     * getCameraCharacteristics(). Calling getPhysicalCameraCharacteristics() on
+     * those cameras must return ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT.
+     *
+     * @param physicalCameraId The physical camera id parsed from the logical
+     *     camera's ANDROID_LOGICAL_MULTI_CAMERA_PHYSICAL_IDS static metadata
+     *     key. The framework assumes that this ID is just the <id> part of fully
+     *     qualified camera device name "device@<major>.<minor>/<type>/<id>". And
+     *     the physical camera must be of the same version and type as the parent
+     *     logical camera device.
      *
      * @return status Status code for the operation, one of:
      *     OK:
-     *         On a successful query of the camera device characteristics
+     *         On a successful query of the physical camera device characteristics
      *     INTERNAL_ERROR:
      *         The camera device cannot be opened due to an internal
      *         error.
@@ -50,6 +63,9 @@
      *         instance must be acquired if the device is reconnected. All
      *         subsequent calls on this interface must return
      *         CAMERA_DISCONNECTED.
+     *     ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT:
+     *         If the physicalCameraId is not a valid physical camera Id outside
+     *         of ICameraProvider::getCameraIdList().
      *
      * @return cameraCharacteristics
      *     The static metadata for this logical camera device's physical device, or an empty
diff --git a/camera/device/3.5/default/CameraDevice.cpp b/camera/device/3.5/default/CameraDevice.cpp
index c5d6c57..a6969af 100644
--- a/camera/device/3.5/default/CameraDevice.cpp
+++ b/camera/device/3.5/default/CameraDevice.cpp
@@ -79,6 +79,10 @@
                 int ret = mModule->getPhysicalCameraInfo((int)id, &physicalInfo);
                 if (ret == OK) {
                     V3_2::implementation::convertToHidl(physicalInfo, &cameraCharacteristics);
+                } else if (ret == -EINVAL) {
+                    ALOGE("%s: %s is not a valid physical camera Id outside of getCameraIdList()",
+                            __FUNCTION__, physicalCameraId.c_str());
+                    status = Status::ILLEGAL_ARGUMENT;
                 } else {
                     ALOGE("%s: Failed to get physical camera %s info: %s (%d)!", __FUNCTION__,
                             physicalCameraId.c_str(), strerror(-ret), ret);