diff --git a/buildozer/__init__.py b/buildozer/__init__.py
index 6d12f9a15..319923a9b 100644
--- a/buildozer/__init__.py
+++ b/buildozer/__init__.py
@@ -26,6 +26,8 @@
 from fnmatch import fnmatch
 
 from pprint import pformat
+import shlex
+import pexpect
 
 from urllib.request import FancyURLopener
 from configparser import ConfigParser
@@ -356,7 +358,6 @@ def cmd(self, command, **kwargs):
                 process.returncode)
 
     def cmd_expect(self, command, **kwargs):
-        from pexpect import spawnu
 
         # prepare the environ, based on the system + our own env
         env = environ.copy()
@@ -377,7 +378,7 @@ def cmd_expect(self, command, **kwargs):
             self.debug('Run (expect) {0!r} ...'.format(command.split()[0]))
 
         self.debug('Cwd {}'.format(kwargs.get('cwd')))
-        return spawnu(command, **kwargs)
+        return pexpect.spawnu(shlex.join(command), **kwargs)
 
     def check_configuration_tokens(self):
         '''Ensure the spec file is 'correct'.
diff --git a/buildozer/targets/android.py b/buildozer/targets/android.py
index 548c765e9..3c7d10e61 100644
--- a/buildozer/targets/android.py
+++ b/buildozer/targets/android.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@
 from platform import architecture
 from shutil import copyfile, rmtree, which
 import shlex
+import pexpect
 from glob import glob
 from time import sleep
 
@@ -553,19 +554,19 @@ def _android_update_sdk(self, *sdkmanager_commands):
 
         kwargs = {}
         if auto_accept_license:
-            # `SIGPIPE` is not being reported somehow, but `EPIPE` is.
-            # This leads to a stderr "Broken pipe" message which is harmless,
-            # but doesn't look good on terminal, hence redirecting to /dev/null
-            yes_command = 'yes 2>/dev/null'
-            android_sdk_dir = self.android_sdk_dir
-            sdkmanager_path = self.sdkmanager_path
-            sdk_root = f"--sdk_root={android_sdk_dir}"
-            command = f"{yes_command} | {sdkmanager_path} {sdk_root} --licenses"
-            self.buildozer.cmd(command, cwd=self.android_sdk_dir, shell=True)
+            kwargs["return_child"] = True
         else:
             kwargs['show_output'] = True
 
-        self._sdkmanager(*sdkmanager_commands, **kwargs)
+        ret_child = self._sdkmanager(*sdkmanager_commands, **kwargs)
+
+        if auto_accept_license:
+            while ret_child.isalive():
+                pexp_match = ret_child.expect(
+                    ["(y/N)", pexpect.EOF, pexpect.TIMEOUT], timeout=300
+                )
+                if pexp_match == 0:
+                    ret_child.sendline("y")
 
     def _read_version_subdir(self, *args):
         versions = []