diff --git a/kolibri/utils/android.py b/kolibri/utils/android.py
index 8aaddbdf167..e382b297803 100644
--- a/kolibri/utils/android.py
+++ b/kolibri/utils/android.py
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-from os import environ
+import sys
 
 
 # A constant to be used in place of Python's platform.system()
@@ -8,7 +8,9 @@
 
 # Android is based on the Linux kernel, but due to security issues, we cannot
 # run the /proc command there, so we need a way to distinguish between the two.
-# Python for Android always sets some Android environment variables, so we check
-# for one of them to differentiate. This is how Kivy detects Android as well.
+# When Python is built against a specific version of the Android API, this method
+# is defined. Otherwise it is not. Note that this cannot be used to distinguish
+# between the current runtime versions of Android, as this value is set to the minimum
+# API level that this Python version was compiled against.
 def on_android():
-    return "ANDROID_ARGUMENT" in environ
+    return hasattr(sys, "getandroidapilevel")