diff --git a/services/core/jni/com_android_server_location_FlpHardwareProvider.cpp b/services/core/jni/com_android_server_location_FlpHardwareProvider.cpp
index 2519ff85a49fe..37a3eaa1d045b 100644
--- a/services/core/jni/com_android_server_location_FlpHardwareProvider.cpp
+++ b/services/core/jni/com_android_server_location_FlpHardwareProvider.cpp
@@ -66,7 +66,12 @@ static inline void ThrowOnError(
   }
 
   ALOGE("Error %d in '%s'", resultCode, methodName);
-  env->FatalError(methodName);
+  // TODO: this layer needs to be refactored to return error codes to Java
+  // raising a FatalError is harsh, and because FLP Hardware Provider is loaded inside the system
+  // service, it can cause the device to reboot, or remain in a reboot loop
+  // a simple exception is still dumped to logcat, but it is handled more gracefully
+  jclass exceptionClass = env->FindClass("java/lang/RuntimeException");
+  env->ThrowNew(exceptionClass, methodName);
 }
 
 static bool IsValidCallbackThread() {