diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PackageManagerService.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PackageManagerService.java
index 2fc22bf79d919..e328d64dd0d66 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PackageManagerService.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PackageManagerService.java
@@ -7569,6 +7569,11 @@ public class PackageManagerService implements PackageSender, TestUtilityService
                 callback);
     }
 
+    @Nullable
+    String getDefaultBrowser(@UserIdInt int userId) {
+        return mDefaultAppProvider.getDefaultBrowser(userId);
+    }
+
     void setDefaultBrowser(@Nullable String packageName, boolean async, @UserIdInt int userId) {
         mDefaultAppProvider.setDefaultBrowser(packageName, async, userId);
     }
diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PreferredActivityHelper.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PreferredActivityHelper.java
index 214a8b80b35d1..9ff83929a609e 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PreferredActivityHelper.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/PreferredActivityHelper.java
@@ -557,9 +557,8 @@ final class PreferredActivityHelper {
             serializer.startDocument(null, true);
             serializer.startTag(null, TAG_DEFAULT_APPS);
 
-            synchronized (mPm.mLock) {
-                mPm.mSettings.writeDefaultAppsLPr(serializer, userId);
-            }
+            final String defaultBrowser = mPm.getDefaultBrowser(userId);
+            Settings.writeDefaultApps(serializer, defaultBrowser);
 
             serializer.endTag(null, TAG_DEFAULT_APPS);
             serializer.endDocument();
@@ -584,12 +583,7 @@ final class PreferredActivityHelper {
             parser.setInput(new ByteArrayInputStream(backup), StandardCharsets.UTF_8.name());
             restoreFromXml(parser, userId, TAG_DEFAULT_APPS,
                     (parser1, userId1) -> {
-                        final String defaultBrowser;
-                        synchronized (mPm.mLock) {
-                            mPm.mSettings.readDefaultAppsLPw(parser1, userId1);
-                            defaultBrowser = mPm.mSettings.removeDefaultBrowserPackageNameLPw(
-                                    userId1);
-                        }
+                        final String defaultBrowser = Settings.readDefaultApps(parser1);
                         if (defaultBrowser != null) {
                             mPm.setDefaultBrowser(defaultBrowser, false, userId1);
                         }
diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/Settings.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/Settings.java
index 532ae718c0304..5811f11b20c5b 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/Settings.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/Settings.java
@@ -1688,6 +1688,19 @@ public final class Settings implements Watchable, Snappable, ResilientAtomicFile
 
     void readDefaultAppsLPw(XmlPullParser parser, int userId)
             throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
+        String defaultBrowser = readDefaultApps(parser);
+        if (defaultBrowser != null) {
+            mDefaultBrowserApp.put(userId, defaultBrowser);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return the package name for the default browser app, or {@code null} if none.
+     */
+    @Nullable
+    static String readDefaultApps(@NonNull XmlPullParser parser)
+            throws XmlPullParserException, IOException {
+        String defaultBrowser = null;
         int outerDepth = parser.getDepth();
         int type;
         while ((type = parser.next()) != XmlPullParser.END_DOCUMENT
@@ -1697,8 +1710,7 @@ public final class Settings implements Watchable, Snappable, ResilientAtomicFile
             }
             String tagName = parser.getName();
             if (tagName.equals(TAG_DEFAULT_BROWSER)) {
-                String packageName = parser.getAttributeValue(null, ATTR_PACKAGE_NAME);
-                mDefaultBrowserApp.put(userId, packageName);
+                defaultBrowser = parser.getAttributeValue(null, ATTR_PACKAGE_NAME);
             } else if (tagName.equals(TAG_DEFAULT_DIALER)) {
                 // Ignored.
             } else {
@@ -1708,6 +1720,7 @@ public final class Settings implements Watchable, Snappable, ResilientAtomicFile
                 XmlUtils.skipCurrentTag(parser);
             }
         }
+        return defaultBrowser;
     }
 
     void readBlockUninstallPackagesLPw(TypedXmlPullParser parser, int userId)
@@ -2087,8 +2100,13 @@ public final class Settings implements Watchable, Snappable, ResilientAtomicFile
 
     void writeDefaultAppsLPr(XmlSerializer serializer, int userId)
             throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, IOException {
-        serializer.startTag(null, TAG_DEFAULT_APPS);
         String defaultBrowser = mDefaultBrowserApp.get(userId);
+        writeDefaultApps(serializer, defaultBrowser);
+    }
+
+    static void writeDefaultApps(@NonNull XmlSerializer serializer, @Nullable String defaultBrowser)
+            throws IllegalArgumentException, IllegalStateException, IOException {
+        serializer.startTag(null, TAG_DEFAULT_APPS);
         if (!TextUtils.isEmpty(defaultBrowser)) {
             serializer.startTag(null, TAG_DEFAULT_BROWSER);
             serializer.attribute(null, ATTR_PACKAGE_NAME, defaultBrowser);