diff --git a/core/java/com/android/internal/os/RuntimeInit.java b/core/java/com/android/internal/os/RuntimeInit.java
index 5538dca2a4faa..69b593a6fb56d 100644
--- a/core/java/com/android/internal/os/RuntimeInit.java
+++ b/core/java/com/android/internal/os/RuntimeInit.java
@@ -103,6 +103,18 @@ public class RuntimeInit {
         /* set default handler; this applies to all threads in the VM */
         Thread.setDefaultUncaughtExceptionHandler(new UncaughtHandler());
 
+        /*
+         * In case the runtime switched since last boot (such as when
+         * the old runtime was removed in an OTA), set the system
+         * property so that it is in sync. We can't do this in
+         * libnativehelper's JniInvocation::Init code where we already
+         * had to fallback to a different runtime because it is
+         * running as root and we need to be the system user to set
+         * the property. http://b/11463182
+         */
+        SystemProperties.set("persist.sys.dalvik.vm.lib",
+                             VMRuntime.getRuntime().vmLibrary());
+
         /*
          * Install a TimezoneGetter subclass for ZoneInfo.db
          */