diff --git a/android/androidmk.go b/android/androidmk.go
index 759d3282b..2cae1c3bb 100644
--- a/android/androidmk.go
+++ b/android/androidmk.go
@@ -231,10 +231,10 @@ func translateAndroidMkModule(ctx blueprint.SingletonContext, w io.Writer, mod b
 		if len(amod.commonProperties.Init_rc) > 0 {
 			fmt.Fprintln(&data.preamble, "LOCAL_INIT_RC := ", strings.Join(amod.commonProperties.Init_rc, " "))
 		}
-		if amod.commonProperties.Proprietary {
+		if Bool(amod.commonProperties.Proprietary) {
 			fmt.Fprintln(&data.preamble, "LOCAL_PROPRIETARY_MODULE := true")
 		}
-		if amod.commonProperties.Vendor {
+		if Bool(amod.commonProperties.Vendor) {
 			fmt.Fprintln(&data.preamble, "LOCAL_VENDOR_MODULE := true")
 		}
 		if amod.commonProperties.Owner != nil {
diff --git a/android/arch.go b/android/arch.go
index eaa35a4a0..f8317bbc1 100644
--- a/android/arch.go
+++ b/android/arch.go
@@ -312,12 +312,12 @@ func archMutator(mctx BottomUpMutatorContext) {
 		var multilib string
 		switch class {
 		case Device:
-			multilib = module.base().commonProperties.Target.Android.Compile_multilib
+			multilib = String(module.base().commonProperties.Target.Android.Compile_multilib)
 		case Host, HostCross:
-			multilib = module.base().commonProperties.Target.Host.Compile_multilib
+			multilib = String(module.base().commonProperties.Target.Host.Compile_multilib)
 		}
 		if multilib == "" {
-			multilib = module.base().commonProperties.Compile_multilib
+			multilib = String(module.base().commonProperties.Compile_multilib)
 		}
 		if multilib == "" {
 			multilib = module.base().commonProperties.Default_multilib
diff --git a/android/module.go b/android/module.go
index 1cdc2dd8b..b8c9ab219 100644
--- a/android/module.go
+++ b/android/module.go
@@ -165,27 +165,27 @@ type commonProperties struct {
 	// are "32" (compile for 32-bit only), "64" (compile for 64-bit only), "both" (compile for both
 	// architectures), or "first" (compile for 64-bit on a 64-bit platform, and 32-bit on a 32-bit
 	// platform
-	Compile_multilib string `android:"arch_variant"`
+	Compile_multilib *string `android:"arch_variant"`
 
 	Target struct {
 		Host struct {
-			Compile_multilib string
+			Compile_multilib *string
 		}
 		Android struct {
-			Compile_multilib string
+			Compile_multilib *string
 		}
 	}
 
 	Default_multilib string `blueprint:"mutated"`
 
 	// whether this is a proprietary vendor module, and should be installed into /vendor
-	Proprietary bool
+	Proprietary *bool
 
 	// vendor who owns this module
 	Owner *string
 
 	// whether this module is device specific and should be installed into /vendor
-	Vendor bool
+	Vendor *bool
 
 	// *.logtags files, to combine together in order to generate the /system/etc/event-log-tags
 	// file
@@ -519,7 +519,7 @@ func (a *ModuleBase) androidBaseContextFactory(ctx blueprint.BaseModuleContext)
 	return androidBaseContextImpl{
 		target:        a.commonProperties.CompileTarget,
 		targetPrimary: a.commonProperties.CompilePrimary,
-		vendor:        a.commonProperties.Proprietary || a.commonProperties.Vendor,
+		vendor:        Bool(a.commonProperties.Proprietary) || Bool(a.commonProperties.Vendor),
 		config:        ctx.Config().(Config),
 	}
 }