diff --git a/apex/apex.go b/apex/apex.go
index 4ad2680..6a53a9f 100644
--- a/apex/apex.go
+++ b/apex/apex.go
@@ -333,6 +333,34 @@
 	}
 }
 
+var (
+	useVendorWhitelistKey = android.NewOnceKey("useVendorWhitelist")
+)
+
+// useVendorWhitelist returns the list of APEXes which are allowed to use_vendor.
+// When use_vendor is used, native modules are built with __ANDROID_VNDK__ and __ANDROID_APEX__,
+// which may cause compatibility issues. (e.g. libbinder)
+// Even though libbinder restricts its availability via 'apex_available' property and relies on
+// yet another macro __ANDROID_APEX_<NAME>__, we restrict usage of "use_vendor:" from other APEX modules
+// to avoid similar problems.
+func useVendorWhitelist(config android.Config) []string {
+	return config.Once(useVendorWhitelistKey, func() interface{} {
+		return []string{
+			// swcodec uses "vendor" variants for smaller size
+			"com.android.media.swcodec",
+			"test_com.android.media.swcodec",
+		}
+	}).([]string)
+}
+
+// setUseVendorWhitelistForTest overrides useVendorWhitelist and must be
+// called before the first call to useVendorWhitelist()
+func setUseVendorWhitelistForTest(config android.Config, whitelist []string) {
+	config.Once(useVendorWhitelistKey, func() interface{} {
+		return whitelist
+	})
+}
+
 type apexNativeDependencies struct {
 	// List of native libraries
 	Native_shared_libs []string
@@ -661,6 +689,10 @@
 }
 
 func (a *apexBundle) DepsMutator(ctx android.BottomUpMutatorContext) {
+	if proptools.Bool(a.properties.Use_vendor) && !android.InList(a.Name(), useVendorWhitelist(ctx.Config())) {
+		ctx.PropertyErrorf("use_vendor", "not allowed to set use_vendor: true")
+	}
+
 	targets := ctx.MultiTargets()
 	config := ctx.DeviceConfig()
 
diff --git a/apex/apex_test.go b/apex/apex_test.go
index ffbee86..ea479aa 100644
--- a/apex/apex_test.go
+++ b/apex/apex_test.go
@@ -818,8 +818,9 @@
 			name: "libbar",
 			symbol_file: "",
 		}
-
-	`)
+	`, func(fs map[string][]byte, config android.Config) {
+		setUseVendorWhitelistForTest(config, []string{"myapex"})
+	})
 
 	apexRule := ctx.ModuleForTests("myapex", "android_common_myapex").Rule("apexRule")
 	copyCmds := apexRule.Args["copy_commands"]
@@ -1047,7 +1048,9 @@
 			vendor_available: true,
 			stl: "none",
 		}
-	`)
+	`, func(fs map[string][]byte, config android.Config) {
+		setUseVendorWhitelistForTest(config, []string{"myapex"})
+	})
 
 	inputsList := []string{}
 	for _, i := range ctx.ModuleForTests("myapex", "android_common_myapex").Module().BuildParamsForTests() {
@@ -1066,6 +1069,38 @@
 	ensureNotContains(t, inputsString, "android_arm64_armv8-a_core_shared_myapex/mylib2.so")
 }
 
+func TestUseVendorRestriction(t *testing.T) {
+	testApexError(t, `module "myapex" .*: use_vendor: not allowed`, `
+		apex {
+			name: "myapex",
+			key: "myapex.key",
+			use_vendor: true,
+		}
+		apex_key {
+			name: "myapex.key",
+			public_key: "testkey.avbpubkey",
+			private_key: "testkey.pem",
+		}
+	`, func(fs map[string][]byte, config android.Config) {
+		setUseVendorWhitelistForTest(config, []string{""})
+	})
+	// no error with whitelist
+	testApex(t, `
+		apex {
+			name: "myapex",
+			key: "myapex.key",
+			use_vendor: true,
+		}
+		apex_key {
+			name: "myapex.key",
+			public_key: "testkey.avbpubkey",
+			private_key: "testkey.pem",
+		}
+	`, func(fs map[string][]byte, config android.Config) {
+		setUseVendorWhitelistForTest(config, []string{"myapex"})
+	})
+}
+
 func TestUseVendorFailsIfNotVendorAvailable(t *testing.T) {
 	testApexError(t, `dependency "mylib" of "myapex" missing variant:\n.*image:vendor`, `
 		apex {
@@ -2356,7 +2391,9 @@
 			public_key: "testkey.avbpubkey",
 			private_key: "testkey.pem",
 		}
-	`)
+	`, func(fs map[string][]byte, config android.Config) {
+		setUseVendorWhitelistForTest(config, []string{"myapex"})
+	})
 }
 
 func TestErrorsIfDepsAreNotEnabled(t *testing.T) {