diff --git a/xbuild/src/cargo/mod.rs b/xbuild/src/cargo/mod.rs
index 7b916bda..b1a3aa30 100644
--- a/xbuild/src/cargo/mod.rs
+++ b/xbuild/src/cargo/mod.rs
@@ -287,11 +287,13 @@ impl CargoBuild {
         })
     }
 
-    pub fn use_android_ndk(&mut self, path: &Path, target_sdk_version: u32) -> Result<()> {
+    pub fn use_android_ndk(&mut self, path: &Path, min_sdk_version: u32) -> Result<()> {
         let path = dunce::canonicalize(path)?;
         let ndk_triple = self.target.ndk_triple();
         assert_eq!(Some(ndk_triple), self.triple);
-        let ndk_versioned_triple = format!("{ndk_triple}{target_sdk_version}");
+        // The `<api>` suffix sets `__ANDROID_API__`, the compile-time symbol
+        // availability floor — hence min, not target, SDK (see the call site).
+        let ndk_versioned_triple = format!("{ndk_triple}{min_sdk_version}");
         self.cfg_tool(Tool::Cc, "clang");
         self.cfg_tool(Tool::Cxx, "clang++");
         self.cfg_tool(Tool::Ar, "llvm-ar");
@@ -300,11 +302,11 @@ impl CargoBuild {
         self.add_cflag(&format!("--target={ndk_versioned_triple}"));
         self.add_cxxflag("-stdlib=libc++");
         let lib_dir = path.join("usr").join("lib").join(ndk_triple);
-        let sdk_lib_dir = lib_dir.join(target_sdk_version.to_string());
+        let sdk_lib_dir = lib_dir.join(min_sdk_version.to_string());
         anyhow::ensure!(
             sdk_lib_dir.exists(),
             "ndk doesn't support sdk version {}",
-            target_sdk_version
+            min_sdk_version
         );
         self.use_ld("lld");
         self.add_link_arg(&format!("--target={ndk_versioned_triple}"));
diff --git a/xbuild/src/lib.rs b/xbuild/src/lib.rs
index 8839068a..25b4bc87 100644
--- a/xbuild/src/lib.rs
+++ b/xbuild/src/lib.rs
@@ -677,14 +677,20 @@ impl BuildEnv {
         }
         if target.platform() == Platform::Android {
             let ndk = self.android_ndk();
-            let target_sdk_version = self
+            // Native code is compiled against the min SDK/API level, not the
+            // target SDK: the NDK compile level gates symbol availability, so a
+            // level above min_sdk links symbols absent on the oldest supported
+            // device. aapt and `android.jar` track the target SDK separately.
+            // Matches cargo-apk: https://github.com/rust-mobile/ndk/pull/197
+            // https://developer.android.com/ndk/guides/sdk-versions#minsdkversion
+            let min_sdk_version = self
                 .config()
                 .android()
                 .manifest
                 .sdk
-                .target_sdk_version
+                .min_sdk_version
                 .unwrap();
-            cargo.use_android_ndk(&ndk, target_sdk_version)?;
+            cargo.use_android_ndk(&ndk, min_sdk_version)?;
         }
         if target.platform() == Platform::Windows {
             let sdk = self.windows_sdk();