diff --git a/core/java/android/content/pm/ApplicationInfo.java b/core/java/android/content/pm/ApplicationInfo.java
index 80fc8e3c2f169..8ea81a4aa99b0 100644
--- a/core/java/android/content/pm/ApplicationInfo.java
+++ b/core/java/android/content/pm/ApplicationInfo.java
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ import android.util.Printer;
 import android.util.SparseArray;
 
 import com.android.internal.util.ArrayUtils;
+import com.android.server.SystemConfig;
 
 import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
 import java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy;
@@ -1459,7 +1460,10 @@ public class ApplicationInfo extends PackageItemInfo implements Parcelable {
      * @hide
      */
     public boolean isAllowedToUseHiddenApi() {
-        return isSystemApp();
+        boolean whitelisted =
+                SystemConfig.getInstance().getHiddenApiWhitelistedApps().contains(packageName);
+        return isSystemApp() || // TODO get rid of this once the whitelist has been populated
+                (whitelisted && (isSystemApp() || isUpdatedSystemApp()));
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/core/java/com/android/server/SystemConfig.java b/core/java/com/android/server/SystemConfig.java
index 77788921635fd..bdb5f99f1f350 100644
--- a/core/java/com/android/server/SystemConfig.java
+++ b/core/java/com/android/server/SystemConfig.java
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ public class SystemConfig {
     private static final int ALLOW_PERMISSIONS = 0x04;
     private static final int ALLOW_APP_CONFIGS = 0x08;
     private static final int ALLOW_PRIVAPP_PERMISSIONS = 0x10;
+    private static final int ALLOW_HIDDENAPI_WHITELISTING = 0x20;
     private static final int ALLOW_ALL = ~0;
 
     // Group-ids that are given to all packages as read from etc/permissions/*.xml.
@@ -134,6 +135,9 @@ public class SystemConfig {
     // These are the permitted backup transport service components
     final ArraySet<ComponentName> mBackupTransportWhitelist = new ArraySet<>();
 
+    // Package names that are exempted from private API blacklisting
+    final ArraySet<String> mHiddenApiPackageWhitelist = new ArraySet<>();
+
     // These are the packages of carrier-associated apps which should be disabled until used until
     // a SIM is inserted which grants carrier privileges to that carrier app.
     final ArrayMap<String, List<String>> mDisabledUntilUsedPreinstalledCarrierAssociatedApps =
@@ -204,6 +208,10 @@ public class SystemConfig {
         return mSystemUserBlacklistedApps;
     }
 
+    public ArraySet<String> getHiddenApiWhitelistedApps() {
+        return mHiddenApiPackageWhitelist;
+    }
+
     public ArraySet<ComponentName> getDefaultVrComponents() {
         return mDefaultVrComponents;
     }
@@ -327,6 +335,7 @@ public class SystemConfig {
             boolean allowPermissions = (permissionFlag & ALLOW_PERMISSIONS) != 0;
             boolean allowAppConfigs = (permissionFlag & ALLOW_APP_CONFIGS) != 0;
             boolean allowPrivappPermissions = (permissionFlag & ALLOW_PRIVAPP_PERMISSIONS) != 0;
+            boolean allowApiWhitelisting = (permissionFlag & ALLOW_HIDDENAPI_WHITELISTING) != 0;
             while (true) {
                 XmlUtils.nextElement(parser);
                 if (parser.getEventType() == XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT) {
@@ -569,6 +578,15 @@ public class SystemConfig {
                     XmlUtils.skipCurrentTag(parser);
                 } else if ("privapp-permissions".equals(name) && allowPrivappPermissions) {
                     readPrivAppPermissions(parser);
+                } else if ("hidden-api-whitelisted-app".equals(name) && allowApiWhitelisting) {
+                    String pkgname = parser.getAttributeValue(null, "package");
+                    if (pkgname == null) {
+                        Slog.w(TAG, "<hidden-api-whitelisted-app> without package in " + permFile
+                                + " at " + parser.getPositionDescription());
+                    } else {
+                        mHiddenApiPackageWhitelist.add(pkgname);
+                    }
+                    XmlUtils.skipCurrentTag(parser);
                 } else {
                     XmlUtils.skipCurrentTag(parser);
                     continue;
diff --git a/data/etc/Android.mk b/data/etc/Android.mk
index b2c68401d7e7d..936ad22d4fc5d 100644
--- a/data/etc/Android.mk
+++ b/data/etc/Android.mk
@@ -39,3 +39,11 @@ LOCAL_MODULE_CLASS := ETC
 LOCAL_MODULE_PATH := $(TARGET_OUT_ETC)/permissions
 LOCAL_SRC_FILES := $(LOCAL_MODULE)
 include $(BUILD_PREBUILT)
+
+########################
+include $(CLEAR_VARS)
+LOCAL_MODULE := hiddenapi-package-whitelist.xml
+LOCAL_MODULE_CLASS := ETC
+LOCAL_MODULE_PATH := $(TARGET_OUT_ETC)/sysconfig
+LOCAL_SRC_FILES := $(LOCAL_MODULE)
+include $(BUILD_PREBUILT)
diff --git a/data/etc/hiddenapi-package-whitelist.xml b/data/etc/hiddenapi-package-whitelist.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000..54d8a23316631
--- /dev/null
+++ b/data/etc/hiddenapi-package-whitelist.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<!--
+  ~ Copyright (C) 2018 The Android Open Source Project
+  ~
+  ~ Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+  ~ you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+  ~ You may obtain a copy of the License at
+  ~
+  ~      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+  ~
+  ~ Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+  ~ distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+  ~ WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+  ~ See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+  ~ limitations under the License
+  -->
+
+<!--
+This XML file declares which system apps should be exempted from the hidden API blacklisting, i.e.
+which apps should be allowed to access the entire private API.
+-->
+
+<config>
+  <hidden-api-whitelisted-app package="com.android.providers.contacts" />
+</config>
+