diff --git a/src/plugins/android/androidrunner.cpp b/src/plugins/android/androidrunner.cpp
index 08f7be5bfd2..a2c642af230 100644
--- a/src/plugins/android/androidrunner.cpp
+++ b/src/plugins/android/androidrunner.cpp
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ AndroidRunner::AndroidRunner(QObject *parent,
                              ProjectExplorer::RunMode runMode)
     : QThread(parent)
 {
-    m_wasStarted = false;
+    m_tries = 0;
     Debugger::DebuggerRunConfigurationAspect *aspect
             = runConfig->extraAspect<Debugger::DebuggerRunConfigurationAspect>();
     const bool debuggingMode = runMode == ProjectExplorer::DebugRunMode;
@@ -153,13 +153,36 @@ QByteArray AndroidRunner::runPs()
 
 void AndroidRunner::checkPID()
 {
-    if (!m_wasStarted)
-        return;
     QByteArray psOut = runPs();
     m_processPID = extractPid(m_packageName, psOut);
+
     if (m_processPID == -1) {
-        m_checkPIDTimer.stop();
-        emit remoteProcessFinished(tr("\n\n'%1' died.").arg(m_packageName));
+        if (m_wasStarted) {
+            m_wasStarted = false;
+            m_checkPIDTimer.stop();
+            emit remoteProcessFinished(tr("\n\n'%1' died.").arg(m_packageName));
+        } else {
+            if (++m_tries > 3)
+                emit remoteProcessFinished(tr("\n\nUnable to start '%1'").arg(m_packageName));
+        }
+    } else if (!m_wasStarted){
+        if (m_useCppDebugger) {
+            // This will be funneled to the engine to actually start and attach
+            // gdb. Afterwards this ends up in handleRemoteDebuggerRunning() below.
+            QByteArray serverChannel = ':' + QByteArray::number(m_localGdbServerPort);
+            emit remoteServerRunning(serverChannel, m_processPID);
+        } else if (m_useQmlDebugger) {
+            // This will be funneled to the engine to actually start and attach
+            // gdb. Afterwards this ends up in handleRemoteDebuggerRunning() below.
+            QByteArray serverChannel = QByteArray::number(m_qmlPort);
+            emit remoteServerRunning(serverChannel, m_processPID);
+        } else if (m_useQmlProfiler) {
+            emit remoteProcessStarted(m_qmlPort);
+        } else {
+            // Start without debugging.
+            emit remoteProcessStarted(-1, -1);
+        }
+        m_wasStarted = true;
     }
 }
 
@@ -189,7 +212,6 @@ void AndroidRunner::forceStop()
 void AndroidRunner::start()
 {
     m_adbLogcatProcess.start(m_adb, selector() << _("logcat"));
-    m_wasStarted = false;
     QtConcurrent::run(this, &AndroidRunner::asyncStart);
 }
 
@@ -294,33 +316,9 @@ void AndroidRunner::asyncStart()
 
     }
 
-    QByteArray psOut = runPs();
-    m_processPID = extractPid(m_packageName, psOut);
-
-    if (m_processPID == -1) {
-        emit remoteProcessFinished(tr("Unable to start '%1'.").arg(m_packageName));
-        return;
-    }
-
+    m_tries = 0;
+    m_wasStarted = false;
     QMetaObject::invokeMethod(&m_checkPIDTimer, "start");
-
-    m_wasStarted = true;
-    if (m_useCppDebugger) {
-        // This will be funneled to the engine to actually start and attach
-        // gdb. Afterwards this ends up in handleRemoteDebuggerRunning() below.
-        QByteArray serverChannel = ':' + QByteArray::number(m_localGdbServerPort);
-        emit remoteServerRunning(serverChannel, m_processPID);
-    } else if (m_useQmlDebugger) {
-        // This will be funneled to the engine to actually start and attach
-        // gdb. Afterwards this ends up in handleRemoteDebuggerRunning() below.
-        QByteArray serverChannel = QByteArray::number(m_qmlPort);
-        emit remoteServerRunning(serverChannel, m_processPID);
-    } else if (m_useQmlProfiler) {
-        emit remoteProcessStarted(m_qmlPort);
-    } else {
-        // Start without debugging.
-        emit remoteProcessStarted(-1, -1);
-    }
 }
 
 void AndroidRunner::handleRemoteDebuggerRunning()
@@ -342,6 +340,7 @@ void AndroidRunner::stop()
 {
     QMutexLocker locker(&m_mutex);
     m_checkPIDTimer.stop();
+    m_tries = 0;
     if (m_processPID != -1) {
         forceStop();
         emit remoteProcessFinished(tr("\n\n'%1' terminated.").arg(m_packageName));
diff --git a/src/plugins/android/androidrunner.h b/src/plugins/android/androidrunner.h
index 589f27ecd49..b18aee29d2f 100644
--- a/src/plugins/android/androidrunner.h
+++ b/src/plugins/android/androidrunner.h
@@ -87,6 +87,7 @@ private:
     QProcess m_adbLogcatProcess;
     QTimer m_checkPIDTimer;
     bool m_wasStarted;
+    int m_tries;
 
     QByteArray m_logcat;
     QString m_intentName;