diff --git a/runtime/runtime_android.cc b/runtime/runtime_android.cc
index 33641ed..33600dd 100644
--- a/runtime/runtime_android.cc
+++ b/runtime/runtime_android.cc
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
     _exit(1);
   }
   handling_unexpected_signal = true;
+  gAborting++;  // set before taking any locks
   MutexLock mu(Thread::Current(), *Locks::unexpected_signal_lock_);
 
   Runtime* runtime = Runtime::Current();