diff --git a/libs/apexutil/Android.bp b/libs/apexutil/Android.bp
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a1a1ca6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libs/apexutil/Android.bp
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+package {
+    default_applicable_licenses: ["Android-Apache-2.0"],
+}
+
+rust_defaults {
+    name: "libapexutil_rust.defaults",
+    crate_name: "apexutil",
+    host_supported: true,
+    srcs: ["src/lib.rs"],
+    prefer_rlib: true,
+    edition: "2018",
+    rustlibs: [
+        "libavb_bindgen",
+        "liblog_rust",
+        "libthiserror",
+        "libzip",
+    ],
+}
+
+rust_library {
+    name: "libapexutil_rust",
+    defaults: ["libapexutil_rust.defaults"],
+}
+
+rust_test {
+    name: "libapexutil_rust.test",
+    defaults: ["libapexutil_rust.defaults"],
+    test_suites: ["general-tests"],
+    data: ["tests/data/*"],
+    target: {
+        host: {
+            // TODO(b/204562227): remove once the build does this automatically
+            data_libs: [
+                "libc++",
+                "libcrypto",
+                "libz",
+            ],
+        },
+    },
+}
diff --git a/microdroid_manager/src/payload/apex.rs b/libs/apexutil/src/lib.rs
similarity index 100%
rename from microdroid_manager/src/payload/apex.rs
rename to libs/apexutil/src/lib.rs
diff --git a/microdroid_manager/tests/data/README.md b/libs/apexutil/tests/data/README.md
similarity index 100%
rename from microdroid_manager/tests/data/README.md
rename to libs/apexutil/tests/data/README.md
diff --git a/microdroid_manager/tests/data/test.apex b/libs/apexutil/tests/data/test.apex
similarity index 100%
rename from microdroid_manager/tests/data/test.apex
rename to libs/apexutil/tests/data/test.apex
Binary files differ
diff --git a/microdroid_manager/Android.bp b/microdroid_manager/Android.bp
index e4827aa..203e889 100644
--- a/microdroid_manager/Android.bp
+++ b/microdroid_manager/Android.bp
@@ -14,8 +14,8 @@
         "android.system.virtualizationservice-rust",
         "android.system.virtualmachineservice-rust",
         "libanyhow",
+        "libapexutil_rust",
         "libapkverify",
-        "libavb_bindgen",
         "libbinder_rpc_unstable_bindgen",
         "libbinder_rs",
         "libbyteorder",
@@ -40,7 +40,6 @@
         "libuuid",
         "libvsock",
         "librand",
-        "libzip",
     ],
     shared_libs: [
         "libbinder_rpc_unstable",
@@ -71,5 +70,4 @@
             enabled: false,
         },
     },
-    data: ["tests/data/*"],
 }
diff --git a/microdroid_manager/src/payload.rs b/microdroid_manager/src/payload.rs
index 48535f3..a553ce4 100644
--- a/microdroid_manager/src/payload.rs
+++ b/microdroid_manager/src/payload.rs
@@ -14,12 +14,10 @@
 
 //! Routines for handling payload
 
-mod apex;
-
 use crate::instance::ApexData;
 use crate::ioutil::wait_for_file;
 use anyhow::Result;
-use apex::verify;
+use apexutil::verify;
 use log::info;
 use microdroid_metadata::{read_metadata, ApexPayload, Metadata};
 use std::time::Duration;