diff --git a/android/config.go b/android/config.go
index a2d311d8c..524ff2f20 100644
--- a/android/config.go
+++ b/android/config.go
@@ -167,8 +167,7 @@ func (c Config) RunningInsideUnitTest() bool {
 }
 
 // DisableHiddenApiChecks returns true if hiddenapi checks have been disabled.
-// For 'eng' target variant hiddenapi checks are disabled by default for performance optimisation
-// Hiddenapi checks are also disabled when RELEASE_DEFAULT_MODULE_BUILD_FROM_SOURCE is set to false
+// For 'eng' target variant hiddenapi checks are disabled by default for performance optimisation,
 // but can be enabled by setting environment variable ENABLE_HIDDENAPI_FLAGS=true.
 // For other target variants hiddenapi check are enabled by default but can be disabled by
 // setting environment variable UNSAFE_DISABLE_HIDDENAPI_FLAGS=true.
@@ -177,8 +176,7 @@ func (c Config) RunningInsideUnitTest() bool {
 func (c Config) DisableHiddenApiChecks() bool {
 	return !c.IsEnvTrue("ENABLE_HIDDENAPI_FLAGS") &&
 		(c.IsEnvTrue("UNSAFE_DISABLE_HIDDENAPI_FLAGS") ||
-			Bool(c.productVariables.Eng) ||
-			!c.ReleaseDefaultModuleBuildFromSource())
+			Bool(c.productVariables.Eng))
 }
 
 // MaxPageSizeSupported returns the max page size supported by the device. This
@@ -223,13 +221,6 @@ func (c Config) ReleaseAconfigFlagDefaultPermission() string {
 	return c.config.productVariables.ReleaseAconfigFlagDefaultPermission
 }
 
-// The flag indicating behavior for the tree wrt building modules or using prebuilts
-// derived from RELEASE_DEFAULT_MODULE_BUILD_FROM_SOURCE
-func (c Config) ReleaseDefaultModuleBuildFromSource() bool {
-	return c.config.productVariables.ReleaseDefaultModuleBuildFromSource == nil ||
-		Bool(c.config.productVariables.ReleaseDefaultModuleBuildFromSource)
-}
-
 // A DeviceConfig object represents the configuration for a particular device
 // being built. For now there will only be one of these, but in the future there
 // may be multiple devices being built.
diff --git a/android/variable.go b/android/variable.go
index 006a77f11..8882e80cb 100644
--- a/android/variable.go
+++ b/android/variable.go
@@ -479,8 +479,6 @@ type ProductVariables struct {
 
 	ReleaseAconfigFlagDefaultPermission string `json:",omitempty"`
 
-	ReleaseDefaultModuleBuildFromSource *bool `json:",omitempty"`
-
 	KeepVndk *bool `json:",omitempty"`
 
 	CheckVendorSeappViolations *bool `json:",omitempty"`