diff --git a/android/sdk.go b/android/sdk.go
index 0adfd89c3..2e057d9b7 100644
--- a/android/sdk.go
+++ b/android/sdk.go
@@ -405,6 +405,10 @@ type SdkMemberType interface {
 	// the module is not allowed in whichever sdk property it was added.
 	IsInstance(module Module) bool
 
+	// UsesSourceModuleTypeInSnapshot returns true when the AddPrebuiltModule() method returns a
+	// source module type.
+	UsesSourceModuleTypeInSnapshot() bool
+
 	// Add a prebuilt module that the sdk will populate.
 	//
 	// The sdk module code generates the snapshot as follows:
@@ -451,6 +455,11 @@ type SdkMemberTypeBase struct {
 	PropertyName    string
 	SupportsSdk     bool
 	HostOsDependent bool
+
+	// When set to true UseSourceModuleTypeInSnapshot indicates that the member type creates a source
+	// module type in its SdkMemberType.AddPrebuiltModule() method. That prevents the sdk snapshot
+	// code from automatically adding a prefer: true flag.
+	UseSourceModuleTypeInSnapshot bool
 }
 
 func (b *SdkMemberTypeBase) SdkPropertyName() string {
@@ -465,6 +474,10 @@ func (b *SdkMemberTypeBase) IsHostOsDependent() bool {
 	return b.HostOsDependent
 }
 
+func (b *SdkMemberTypeBase) UsesSourceModuleTypeInSnapshot() bool {
+	return b.UseSourceModuleTypeInSnapshot
+}
+
 // Encapsulates the information about registered SdkMemberTypes.
 type SdkMemberTypesRegistry struct {
 	// The list of types sorted by property name.
diff --git a/sdk/update.go b/sdk/update.go
index 707ac63f7..40dba1937 100644
--- a/sdk/update.go
+++ b/sdk/update.go
@@ -1370,17 +1370,20 @@ func (s *sdk) createMemberSnapshot(ctx *memberContext, member *sdkMember, bpModu
 
 	memberType := member.memberType
 
-	// Set the prefer based on the environment variable. This is a temporary work around to allow a
-	// snapshot to be created that sets prefer: true.
-	// TODO(b/174997203): Remove once the ability to select the modules to prefer can be done
-	//  dynamically at build time not at snapshot generation time.
-	prefer := ctx.sdkMemberContext.Config().IsEnvTrue("SOONG_SDK_SNAPSHOT_PREFER")
+	// Do not add the prefer property if the member snapshot module is a source module type.
+	if !memberType.UsesSourceModuleTypeInSnapshot() {
+		// Set the prefer based on the environment variable. This is a temporary work around to allow a
+		// snapshot to be created that sets prefer: true.
+		// TODO(b/174997203): Remove once the ability to select the modules to prefer can be done
+		//  dynamically at build time not at snapshot generation time.
+		prefer := ctx.sdkMemberContext.Config().IsEnvTrue("SOONG_SDK_SNAPSHOT_PREFER")
 
-	// Set prefer. Setting this to false is not strictly required as that is the default but it does
-	// provide a convenient hook to post-process the generated Android.bp file, e.g. in tests to
-	// check the behavior when a prebuilt is preferred. It also makes it explicit what the default
-	// behavior is for the module.
-	bpModule.insertAfter("name", "prefer", prefer)
+		// Set prefer. Setting this to false is not strictly required as that is the default but it does
+		// provide a convenient hook to post-process the generated Android.bp file, e.g. in tests to
+		// check the behavior when a prebuilt is preferred. It also makes it explicit what the default
+		// behavior is for the module.
+		bpModule.insertAfter("name", "prefer", prefer)
+	}
 
 	// Group the variants by os type.
 	variantsByOsType := make(map[android.OsType][]android.Module)