diff --git a/core/api/current.txt b/core/api/current.txt
index b7e98bea9293f..57e256142eb09 100644
--- a/core/api/current.txt
+++ b/core/api/current.txt
@@ -54884,6 +54884,7 @@ package android.widget {
     method public int describeContents();
     method public int getLayoutId();
     method public String getPackage();
+    method @IdRes public int getViewId();
     method @Deprecated public boolean onLoadClass(Class);
     method public void reapply(android.content.Context, android.view.View);
     method public void removeAllViews(@IdRes int);
@@ -54944,6 +54945,7 @@ package android.widget {
     method public void setTextViewText(@IdRes int, CharSequence);
     method public void setTextViewTextSize(@IdRes int, int, float);
     method public void setUri(@IdRes int, String, android.net.Uri);
+    method public void setViewId(@IdRes int);
     method public void setViewLayoutHeight(@IdRes int, float, int);
     method public void setViewLayoutHeightDimen(@IdRes int, @DimenRes int);
     method public void setViewLayoutMargin(@IdRes int, int, float, int);
diff --git a/core/java/android/widget/RemoteViews.java b/core/java/android/widget/RemoteViews.java
index dfb2263a97a76..2328e589216bd 100644
--- a/core/java/android/widget/RemoteViews.java
+++ b/core/java/android/widget/RemoteViews.java
@@ -358,6 +358,13 @@ public class RemoteViews implements Parcelable, Filter {
     @ApplyFlags
     private int mApplyFlags = 0;
 
+    /**
+     * Id to use to override the ID of the top-level view in this RemoteViews.
+     *
+     * Only used if this RemoteViews is defined from a XML layout value.
+     */
+    private int mViewId = View.NO_ID;
+
     /** Class cookies of the Parcel this instance was read from. */
     private Map<Class, Object> mClassCookies;
 
@@ -4799,6 +4806,9 @@ public class RemoteViews implements Parcelable, Filter {
         inflater = inflater.cloneInContext(inflationContext);
         inflater.setFilter(shouldUseStaticFilter() ? INFLATER_FILTER : this);
         View v = inflater.inflate(rv.getLayoutId(), parent, false);
+        if (mViewId != View.NO_ID) {
+            v.setId(mViewId);
+        }
         v.setTagInternal(R.id.widget_frame, rv.getLayoutId());
         return v;
     }
@@ -5746,4 +5756,25 @@ public class RemoteViews implements Parcelable, Filter {
         }
         return true;
     }
+
+    /**
+     *  Set the ID of the top-level view of the XML layout.
+     *
+     *  Set to {@link View#NO_ID} to reset and simply keep the id defined in the XML layout.
+     *
+     * @throws UnsupportedOperationException if the method is called on a RemoteViews defined in
+     * term of other RemoteViews (e.g. {@link #RemoteViews(RemoteViews, RemoteViews)}).
+     */
+    public void setViewId(@IdRes int viewId) {
+        if (hasMultipleLayouts()) {
+            throw new UnsupportedOperationException(
+                    "The viewId can only be set on RemoteViews defined from a XML layout.");
+        }
+        mViewId = viewId;
+    }
+
+    /** Get the ID of the top-level view of the XML layout, as set by {@link #setViewId}. */
+    public @IdRes int getViewId() {
+        return mViewId;
+    }
 }