diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/ApexManager.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/ApexManager.java
index 7e1bc79399b9d..2301e3fb093d1 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/ApexManager.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/ApexManager.java
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@ import android.content.Intent;
 import android.content.IntentFilter;
 import android.content.pm.ApplicationInfo;
 import android.content.pm.PackageInfo;
+import android.content.pm.PackageInstaller;
 import android.content.pm.PackageManager;
 import android.content.pm.PackageParser;
 import android.os.RemoteException;
@@ -147,14 +148,10 @@ abstract class ApexManager {
      * @param childSessionIds if {@code sessionId} is a multi-package session, this should contain
      *                        an array of identifiers of all the child sessions. Otherwise it should
      *                        be an empty array.
-     * @param apexInfoList this is an output parameter, which needs to be initialized by tha caller
-     *                     and will be filled with a list of {@link ApexInfo} objects, each of which
-     *                     contains metadata about one of the packages being submitted as part of
-     *                     the session.
-     * @return whether the submission of the session was successful.
+     * @throws PackageManagerException if call to apexd fails
      */
-    abstract boolean submitStagedSession(
-            int sessionId, @NonNull int[] childSessionIds, @NonNull ApexInfoList apexInfoList);
+    abstract ApexInfoList submitStagedSession(int sessionId, @NonNull int[] childSessionIds)
+            throws PackageManagerException;
 
     /**
      * Mark a staged session previously submitted using {@code submitStagedSession} as ready to be
@@ -388,13 +385,19 @@ abstract class ApexManager {
         }
 
         @Override
-        boolean submitStagedSession(
-                int sessionId, @NonNull int[] childSessionIds, @NonNull ApexInfoList apexInfoList) {
+        ApexInfoList submitStagedSession(int sessionId, @NonNull int[] childSessionIds)
+                throws PackageManagerException {
             try {
-                return mApexService.submitStagedSession(sessionId, childSessionIds, apexInfoList);
+                final ApexInfoList apexInfoList = new ApexInfoList();
+                mApexService.submitStagedSession(sessionId, childSessionIds, apexInfoList);
+                return apexInfoList;
             } catch (RemoteException re) {
                 Slog.e(TAG, "Unable to contact apexservice", re);
                 throw new RuntimeException(re);
+            } catch (Exception e) {
+                throw new PackageManagerException(
+                        PackageInstaller.SessionInfo.STAGED_SESSION_VERIFICATION_FAILED,
+                        "apexd verification failed : " + e.getMessage());
             }
         }
 
@@ -566,9 +569,10 @@ abstract class ApexManager {
         }
 
         @Override
-        boolean submitStagedSession(int sessionId, int[] childSessionIds,
-                ApexInfoList apexInfoList) {
-            throw new UnsupportedOperationException();
+        ApexInfoList submitStagedSession(int sessionId, int[] childSessionIds)
+                throws PackageManagerException {
+            throw new PackageManagerException(PackageManager.INSTALL_FAILED_INTERNAL_ERROR,
+                    "Device doesn't support updating APEX");
         }
 
         @Override
diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/StagingManager.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/StagingManager.java
index f9a019703f4da..404b515e233ea 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/StagingManager.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/pm/StagingManager.java
@@ -155,13 +155,10 @@ public class StagingManager {
                 }
             }
         }
-        final ApexInfoList apexInfoList = new ApexInfoList();
-        boolean submittedToApexd = mApexManager.submitStagedSession(session.sessionId,
-                childSessionsIds.toArray(), apexInfoList);
-        if (!submittedToApexd) {
-            throw new PackageManagerException(SessionInfo.STAGED_SESSION_VERIFICATION_FAILED,
-                    "APEX staging failed, check logcat messages from apexd for more details.");
-        }
+        // submitStagedSession will throw a PackageManagerException if apexd verification fails,
+        // which will be propagated to populate stagedSessionErrorMessage of this session.
+        final ApexInfoList apexInfoList = mApexManager.submitStagedSession(session.sessionId,
+                childSessionsIds.toArray());
         final List<PackageInfo> result = new ArrayList<>();
         for (ApexInfo newPackage : apexInfoList.apexInfos) {
             final PackageInfo pkg;