diff --git a/jme3-android-native/openalsoft.gradle b/jme3-android-native/openalsoft.gradle
index e64c9dd54..22e47a65a 100644
--- a/jme3-android-native/openalsoft.gradle
+++ b/jme3-android-native/openalsoft.gradle
@@ -111,7 +111,9 @@ task copyPreCompiledOpenAlSoftLibs(type: Copy) {
     into outputDir
 }
 
-if (rootProject.ndkExists && rootProject.buildNativeProjects) {
+// ndkExists is a boolean from the build.gradle in the root project
+// buildNativeProjects is a string set to "true"
+if (ndkExists && buildNativeProjects == "true") {
     // build native libs and update stored pre-compiled libs to commit
     compileJava.dependsOn { updatePreCompiledOpenAlSoftLibs }
 } else {