diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/android/ValidatedAndroidResources.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/android/ValidatedAndroidResources.java
index 7d11049b44a9da..dfc8c5964a6a24 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/android/ValidatedAndroidResources.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/rules/android/ValidatedAndroidResources.java
@@ -79,7 +79,7 @@ public static ValidatedAndroidResources validateFrom(
         // this allows android rules to generate resources outside of the java{,tests} tree.
         .maybeAddFlag("--packageForR", merged.getJavaPackage())
         .addVectoredFlag(
-            "--additionalApksToLinkAgainst",
+            "--resourceApks",
             resApkDeps.stream().map(Artifact::getRootRelativePathString).collect(toImmutableList()))
         .addTransitiveVectoredInput(
             "--compiledDep", merged.getResourceDependencies().getTransitiveCompiledSymbols())
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/starlarkbuildapi/android/AndroidDataProcessingApi.java b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/starlarkbuildapi/android/AndroidDataProcessingApi.java
index c38831c5a95184..0955c93c7a5fa5 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/starlarkbuildapi/android/AndroidDataProcessingApi.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/google/devtools/build/lib/starlarkbuildapi/android/AndroidDataProcessingApi.java
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ AndroidAssetsInfoT mergeAssets(
                 "Targets containing raw resources from dependencies. These resources will be merged"
                     + " together with each other and this target's resources."),
         @Param(
-            name = "validation_res_apks",
+            name = "validation_resource_apks",
             positional = false,
             defaultValue = "[]",
             allowedTypes = {
@@ -297,8 +297,8 @@ AndroidAssetsInfoT mergeAssets(
             },
             named = true,
             doc =
-                "Resource APK deps to be used for validation only. Not fully supported in the"
-                    + " native resource pipeline."),
+                "List of resource only APK files to be used for validation only. Not fully"
+                    + " supported in the native resource pipeline."),
         @Param(
             name = "neverlink",
             positional = false,
diff --git a/src/tools/android/java/com/google/devtools/build/android/ValidateAndLinkResourcesAction.java b/src/tools/android/java/com/google/devtools/build/android/ValidateAndLinkResourcesAction.java
index 3fe4355632e743..2a8606e3d98edc 100644
--- a/src/tools/android/java/com/google/devtools/build/android/ValidateAndLinkResourcesAction.java
+++ b/src/tools/android/java/com/google/devtools/build/android/ValidateAndLinkResourcesAction.java
@@ -163,14 +163,14 @@ public static class Options extends OptionsBase {
     public Path sourceJarOut;
 
     @Option(
-        name = "additionalApksToLinkAgainst",
+        name = "resourceApks",
         defaultValue = "null",
         category = "input",
         converter = PathListConverter.class,
         documentationCategory = OptionDocumentationCategory.UNCATEGORIZED,
         effectTags = {OptionEffectTag.UNKNOWN},
-        help = "List of APKs used during linking.")
-    public List<Path> additionalApksToLinkAgainst;
+        help = "List of reource only APK files to link against.")
+    public List<Path> resourceApks;
   }
 
   public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
@@ -214,15 +214,10 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
       checkVisibilityOfResourceReferences(
           /* androidManifest= */ XmlNode.getDefaultInstance(), resources, includes);
 
-      ImmutableList.Builder<StaticLibrary> dependencies = ImmutableList.builder();
-      dependencies.addAll(
-          Optional.ofNullable(options.deprecatedLibraries).orElse(options.libraries));
-
-      if (options.additionalApksToLinkAgainst != null) {
-        dependencies.addAll(
-            options.additionalApksToLinkAgainst.stream()
-                .map(StaticLibrary::from)
-                .collect(toImmutableList()));
+      ImmutableList<StaticLibrary> resourceApks = ImmutableList.of();
+      if (options.resourceApks != null) {
+        resourceApks =
+            options.resourceApks.stream().map(StaticLibrary::from).collect(toImmutableList());
       }
 
       profiler.recordEndOf("validate").startTask("link");
@@ -231,8 +226,10 @@ public static void main(String[] args) throws Exception {
           // NB: these names are really confusing.
           //   .dependencies is meant for linking in android.jar
           //   .include is meant for regular dependencies
-          .dependencies(dependencies.build())
+          //   .resourceApks is meant for linking runtime resource only apks
+          .dependencies(Optional.ofNullable(options.deprecatedLibraries).orElse(options.libraries))
           .include(includes)
+          .resourceApks(resourceApks)
           .buildVersion(aapt2Options.buildToolsVersion)
           .outputAsProto(aapt2Options.resourceTableAsProto)
           .linkStatically(resources)
diff --git a/src/tools/android/java/com/google/devtools/build/android/aapt2/ResourceLinker.java b/src/tools/android/java/com/google/devtools/build/android/aapt2/ResourceLinker.java
index 63363dac7a4b7c..3507d8340cb22f 100644
--- a/src/tools/android/java/com/google/devtools/build/android/aapt2/ResourceLinker.java
+++ b/src/tools/android/java/com/google/devtools/build/android/aapt2/ResourceLinker.java
@@ -156,6 +156,7 @@ public static LinkError of(Throwable e) {
   private List<Path> assetDirs = ImmutableList.of();
   private boolean conditionalKeepRules = false;
   private boolean includeProguardLocationReferences = false;
+  private List<StaticLibrary> resourceApks = ImmutableList.of();
 
   private ResourceLinker(
       Path aapt2, ListeningExecutorService executorService, Path workingDirectory) {
@@ -244,6 +245,12 @@ public ResourceLinker outputAsProto(boolean outputAsProto) {
     return this;
   }
 
+  @CanIgnoreReturnValue
+  public ResourceLinker resourceApks(List<StaticLibrary> resourceApks) {
+    this.resourceApks = resourceApks;
+    return this;
+  }
+
   /**
    * Statically links the {@link CompiledResources} with the dependencies to produce a {@link
    * StaticLibrary}.
@@ -256,6 +263,8 @@ public StaticLibrary linkStatically(CompiledResources compiled) {
       Path javaSourceDirectory = workingDirectory.resolve("java");
       profiler.startTask("linkstatic");
       final Collection<String> pathsToLinkAgainst = StaticLibrary.toPathStrings(linkAgainst);
+      final Collection<String> resourceApkPathsToLinkAgainst =
+          StaticLibrary.toPathStrings(resourceApks);
       logger.finer(
           new AaptCommandBuilder(aapt2)
               .forBuildToolsVersion(buildToolsVersion)
@@ -274,6 +283,7 @@ public StaticLibrary linkStatically(CompiledResources compiled) {
               .addParameterableRepeated(
                   "-R", compiledResourcesToPaths(compiled, IS_FLAT_FILE), workingDirectory)
               .addRepeated("-I", pathsToLinkAgainst)
+              .addRepeated("-I", resourceApkPathsToLinkAgainst)
               .add("--auto-add-overlay")
               .when(OVERRIDE_STYLES_INSTEAD_OF_OVERLAYING)
               .thenAdd("--override-styles-instead-of-overlaying")
@@ -300,6 +310,7 @@ public StaticLibrary linkStatically(CompiledResources compiled) {
                 .thenAdd("--proto-format")
                 // only link against jars
                 .addRepeated("-I", pathsToLinkAgainst.stream().filter(IS_JAR).collect(toList()))
+                .addRepeated("-I", resourceApkPathsToLinkAgainst)
                 .add("-R", outPath)
                 // only include non-jars
                 .addRepeated(
@@ -443,6 +454,7 @@ private ProtoApk linkProtoApk(
                         compiled.getAssetsStrings().stream())
                     .collect(toList()))
             .addRepeated("-I", StaticLibrary.toPathStrings(linkAgainst))
+            .addRepeated("-I", StaticLibrary.toPathStrings(resourceApks))
             .addParameterableRepeated(
                 "-R",
                 compiledResourcesToPaths(