diff --git a/lib/tools/android-manifest.js b/lib/tools/android-manifest.js
index 23eb34fba..8c409cadb 100644
--- a/lib/tools/android-manifest.js
+++ b/lib/tools/android-manifest.js
@@ -96,10 +96,12 @@ manifestMethods.targetSdkVersionFromManifest = async function (localApk) {
     let args = ['dump', 'badging', localApk];
     let {stdout} = await exec(this.binaries.aapt, args);
     let targetSdkVersion = new RegExp(/targetSdkVersion:'([^']+)'/g).exec(stdout);
+    if (!targetSdkVersion) {
+      throw new Error(`targetSdkVersion is not specified in the application.`);
+    }
     return parseInt(targetSdkVersion[1], 10);
   } catch (e) {
-    log.warn(`Ran into problem getting target SDK; ignoring: ${e.message}`);
-    return null;
+    log.errorAndThrow(`fetching targetSdkVersion from local APK failed. Original error: ${e.message}`);
   }
 };
 
diff --git a/lib/tools/apk-utils.js b/lib/tools/apk-utils.js
index 1419b800d..c19002480 100644
--- a/lib/tools/apk-utils.js
+++ b/lib/tools/apk-utils.js
@@ -193,7 +193,13 @@ apkUtilsMethods.install = async function (apk, replace = true, timeout = 60000)
   }
   if (apk.includes('.apk')) {
     let apiLevel = await this.getApiLevel();
-    let targetSdk = await this.targetSdkVersionFromManifest(apk);
+    let targetSdk = null;
+    try {
+      targetSdk = await this.targetSdkVersionFromManifest(apk);
+    } catch (e) {
+      //avoiding logging error stack, as calling library function would have logged
+      log.warn(`Ran into problem getting target SDK version; ignoring...`);
+    }
     if (apiLevel >= 23 && (!targetSdk || targetSdk >= 23)) {
       await this.grantAllPermissions(await this.getPackageName(apk));
     }