diff --git a/core/java/android/hardware/camera2/CameraAccessException.java b/core/java/android/hardware/camera2/CameraAccessException.java
index 1af575f12df5d..ca71e8165993b 100644
--- a/core/java/android/hardware/camera2/CameraAccessException.java
+++ b/core/java/android/hardware/camera2/CameraAccessException.java
@@ -114,7 +114,10 @@ public class CameraAccessException extends AndroidException {
         mReason = problem;
     }
 
-    private static String getDefaultMessage(int problem) {
+    /**
+     * @hide
+     */
+    public static String getDefaultMessage(int problem) {
         switch (problem) {
             case CAMERA_IN_USE:
                 return "The camera device is in use already";
diff --git a/core/java/android/hardware/camera2/CameraManager.java b/core/java/android/hardware/camera2/CameraManager.java
index 03b342c03ff5a..accceb12ad773 100644
--- a/core/java/android/hardware/camera2/CameraManager.java
+++ b/core/java/android/hardware/camera2/CameraManager.java
@@ -84,9 +84,8 @@ public final class CameraManager {
         try {
             CameraBinderDecorator.throwOnError(
                     CameraMetadataNative.nativeSetupGlobalVendorTagDescriptor());
-        } catch(CameraRuntimeException e) {
-            throw new IllegalStateException("Failed to setup camera vendor tags",
-                    e.asChecked());
+        } catch (CameraRuntimeException e) {
+            handleRecoverableSetupErrors(e, "Failed to set up vendor tags");
         }
 
         try {
@@ -424,6 +423,18 @@ public final class CameraManager {
         return mDeviceIdList;
     }
 
+    private void handleRecoverableSetupErrors(CameraRuntimeException e, String msg) {
+        int problem = e.getReason();
+        switch (problem) {
+            case CameraAccessException.CAMERA_DISCONNECTED:
+                String errorMsg = CameraAccessException.getDefaultMessage(problem);
+                Log.w(TAG, msg + ": " + errorMsg);
+                break;
+            default:
+                throw new IllegalStateException(msg, e.asChecked());
+        }
+    }
+
     // TODO: this class needs unit tests
     // TODO: extract class into top level
     private class CameraServiceListener extends ICameraServiceListener.Stub {