diff --git a/microdroid/Android.bp b/microdroid/Android.bp
index 1638f6f..e4334cb 100644
--- a/microdroid/Android.bp
+++ b/microdroid/Android.bp
@@ -101,7 +101,10 @@
     multilib: {
         common: {
             deps: [
+                // non-updatable & mandatory apexes
+                "com.android.i18n",
                 "com.android.runtime",
+
                 "microdroid_plat_sepolicy.cil",
                 "microdroid_plat_mapping_file",
             ],
diff --git a/virtualizationservice/src/payload.rs b/virtualizationservice/src/payload.rs
index 75ba6c7..9662fa3 100644
--- a/virtualizationservice/src/payload.rs
+++ b/virtualizationservice/src/payload.rs
@@ -31,8 +31,7 @@
 
 /// The list of APEXes which microdroid requires.
 // TODO(b/192200378) move this to microdroid.json?
-const MICRODROID_REQUIRED_APEXES: [&str; 3] =
-    ["com.android.adbd", "com.android.i18n", "com.android.os.statsd"];
+const MICRODROID_REQUIRED_APEXES: [&str; 2] = ["com.android.adbd", "com.android.os.statsd"];
 
 const APEX_INFO_LIST_PATH: &str = "/apex/apex-info-list.xml";