diff -r 20bb8babc505 Doc/library/sys.rst
--- a/Doc/library/sys.rst	Wed Nov 30 12:10:54 2016 +0100
+++ b/Doc/library/sys.rst	Thu Dec 01 09:10:01 2016 +0100
@@ -404,6 +404,15 @@ always available.
    .. versionadded:: 3.4
 
 
+.. function:: getandroidapilevel()
+
+   Return the build time API version of Android as an integer.
+
+   Availability: Android.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 3.7
+
+
 .. function:: getcheckinterval()
 
    Return the interpreter's "check interval"; see :func:`setcheckinterval`.
diff -r 20bb8babc505 Lib/test/support/__init__.py
--- a/Lib/test/support/__init__.py	Wed Nov 30 12:10:54 2016 +0100
+++ b/Lib/test/support/__init__.py	Thu Dec 01 09:10:01 2016 +0100
@@ -766,8 +766,13 @@ requires_lzma = unittest.skipUnless(lzma
 
 is_jython = sys.platform.startswith('java')
 
-_ANDROID_API_LEVEL = sysconfig.get_config_var('ANDROID_API_LEVEL')
-is_android = (_ANDROID_API_LEVEL is not None and _ANDROID_API_LEVEL > 0)
+try:
+    # constant used by requires_android_level()
+    _ANDROID_API_LEVEL = sys.getandroidapilevel()
+    is_android = True
+except AttributeError:
+    # sys.getandroidapilevel() is only available on Android
+    is_android = False
 
 if sys.platform != 'win32':
     unix_shell = '/system/bin/sh' if is_android else '/bin/sh'
diff -r 20bb8babc505 Python/sysmodule.c
--- a/Python/sysmodule.c	Wed Nov 30 12:10:54 2016 +0100
+++ b/Python/sysmodule.c	Thu Dec 01 09:10:01 2016 +0100
@@ -1363,6 +1363,20 @@ PyDoc_STRVAR(is_finalizing_doc,
 Return True if Python is exiting.");
 
 
+#ifdef ANDROID_API_LEVEL
+PyDoc_STRVAR(getandroidapilevel_doc,
+"getandroidapilevel()\n\
+\n\
+Return the build time API version of Android as an integer.");
+
+static PyObject *
+sys_getandroidapilevel(PyObject *self)
+{
+    return PyLong_FromLong(ANDROID_API_LEVEL);
+}
+#endif   /* ANDROID_API_LEVEL */
+
+
 static PyMethodDef sys_methods[] = {
     /* Might as well keep this in alphabetic order */
     {"callstats", (PyCFunction)sys_callstats, METH_NOARGS,
@@ -1447,6 +1461,10 @@ static PyMethodDef sys_methods[] = {
      METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS, set_asyncgen_hooks_doc},
     {"get_asyncgen_hooks", sys_get_asyncgen_hooks, METH_NOARGS,
      get_asyncgen_hooks_doc},
+#ifdef ANDROID_API_LEVEL
+    {"getandroidapilevel", (PyCFunction)sys_getandroidapilevel, METH_NOARGS,
+     getandroidapilevel_doc},
+#endif
     {NULL,              NULL}           /* sentinel */
 };