diff -r 89116bd505cb Lib/platform.py
--- a/Lib/platform.py	Wed May 04 12:00:32 2016 -0400
+++ b/Lib/platform.py	Thu May 05 03:03:06 2016 +0800
@@ -690,6 +690,52 @@
 
     return release, vendor, vminfo, osinfo
 
+def _android_getprop(prop, default):
+    # On Android 4.1, `getprop` relies on an inherited file descriptor to
+    # gain access to the system property area. The id of this file descriptor
+    # is stored in the environment variable ANDROID_PROPERTY_WORKSPACE
+    pass_fds = ()
+    android_property_workspace = os.getenv('ANDROID_PROPERTY_WORKSPACE')
+    if android_property_workspace and ',' in android_property_workspace:
+        property_fd_str = android_property_workspace.split(',')[0]
+        if property_fd_str.isdigit():
+            pass_fds = (int(property_fd_str),)
+
+    try:
+        result = subprocess.check_output(['getprop', prop], pass_fds=pass_fds)
+        return result.decode('utf-8').strip()
+    except (OSError, subprocess.CalledProcessError, UnicodeDecodeError):
+        return default
+
+def android_ver(version='', sdk='', versioninfo=('', '', ''), hardwareinfo=('', '')):
+    """ Attempt to get the Android version information.
+
+        The function checks Android system properties to retrieve info.
+
+        Returns a (version, sdk, versioninfo, hardwareinfo) tuple with
+        versioninfo being a (buildstr, codename, incremental) tuple and
+        hardwareinfo being a (boardname, abi) tuple.
+
+        Values which cannot be determined are set to the defaults
+        given as parameters (which all default to '').
+    """
+
+    version = _android_getprop('ro.build.version.release', version)
+    sdk = _android_getprop('ro.build.version.sdk', sdk)
+
+    buildstr, codename, incremental = versioninfo
+    buildstr = _android_getprop('ro.build.version.full', buildstr)
+    codename = _android_getprop('ro.build.version.codename', codename)
+    incremental = _android_getprop('ro.build.version.incremental', incremental)
+    versioninfo = buildstr, codename, incremental
+
+    boardname, abi = hardwareinfo
+    boardname = _android_getprop('ro.product.board', boardname)
+    abi = _android_getprop('ro.product.cpu.abi', abi)
+    hardwareinfo = boardname, abi
+
+    return version, sdk, versioninfo, hardwareinfo
+
 ### System name aliasing
 
 def system_alias(system, release, version):