diff --git a/src/plugins/android/androidrunnerworker.cpp b/src/plugins/android/androidrunnerworker.cpp
index 759eba59e46..aa88fdc903c 100644
--- a/src/plugins/android/androidrunnerworker.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/android/androidrunnerworker.cpp
@@ -327,7 +327,7 @@ AndroidRunnerWorker::~AndroidRunnerWorker()
 }
 
 bool AndroidRunnerWorker::runAdb(const QStringList &args, QString *stdOut,
-                                 const QByteArray &writeData)
+                                 QString *stdErr, const QByteArray &writeData)
 {
     QStringList adbArgs = selector() + args;
     SdkToolResult result = AndroidManager::runAdbCommand(adbArgs, writeData);
@@ -335,6 +335,8 @@ bool AndroidRunnerWorker::runAdb(const QStringList &args, QString *stdOut,
         emit remoteErrorOutput(result.stdErr());
     if (stdOut)
         *stdOut = result.stdOut();
+    if (stdErr)
+        *stdErr = result.stdErr();
     return result.success();
 }
 
@@ -651,10 +653,17 @@ void AndroidRunnerWorker::asyncStartHelper()
                                     .toUtf8().toBase64());
     }
 
-    if (!runAdb(args)) {
+    QString stdErr;
+    const bool startResult = runAdb(args, nullptr, &stdErr);
+    if (!startResult) {
         emit remoteProcessFinished(tr("Failed to start the activity."));
         return;
     }
+
+    if (!stdErr.isEmpty()) {
+        emit remoteErrorOutput(tr("Activity Manager threw the error: %1").arg(stdErr));
+        return;
+    }
 }
 
 bool AndroidRunnerWorker::startDebuggerServer(const QString &packageDir,
diff --git a/src/plugins/android/androidrunnerworker.h b/src/plugins/android/androidrunnerworker.h
index 68b9ca9c0ec..f4ceb9e8caa 100644
--- a/src/plugins/android/androidrunnerworker.h
+++ b/src/plugins/android/androidrunnerworker.h
@@ -47,7 +47,8 @@ public:
     AndroidRunnerWorker(ProjectExplorer::RunWorker *runner, const QString &packageName);
     ~AndroidRunnerWorker() override;
 
-    bool runAdb(const QStringList &args, QString *stdOut = nullptr, const QByteArray &writeData = {});
+    bool runAdb(const QStringList &args, QString *stdOut = nullptr, QString *stdErr = nullptr,
+                const QByteArray &writeData = {});
     void adbKill(qint64 pid);
     QStringList selector() const;
     void forceStop();