diff --git a/tools/hiddenapi/exclude.sh b/tools/hiddenapi/exclude.sh
index 18c40546fd024..73eacc0641e5d 100755
--- a/tools/hiddenapi/exclude.sh
+++ b/tools/hiddenapi/exclude.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ TEAMS=LIBCORE
 PACKAGES=$(for t in $TEAMS; do echo $(eval echo \${${t}_PACKAGES}); done)
 RE=$(echo ${PACKAGES} | sed "s/ /|/g")
 git show --name-only --pretty=format: $1 | grep "config/hiddenapi-.*txt" | while read file; do
-    ENTRIES=$(grep -E "^L(${RE})/" <(git show $1:$file))
+    ENTRIES=$(grep -E "^L(${RE})/" || true <(git show $1:$file))
     if [[ -n "${ENTRIES}" ]]; then
       echo -e "\e[1m\e[31m$file $1 contains the following entries\e[0m"
       echo -e "\e[1m\e[31mfor packages that are handled using UnsupportedAppUsage. Please remove\e[0m"