diff --git a/src/main/kotlin/com/getkeepsafe/dexcount/SourceFile.kt b/src/main/kotlin/com/getkeepsafe/dexcount/SourceFile.kt
index 7fc2e1a6..f208ac01 100644
--- a/src/main/kotlin/com/getkeepsafe/dexcount/SourceFile.kt
+++ b/src/main/kotlin/com/getkeepsafe/dexcount/SourceFile.kt
@@ -111,11 +111,27 @@ internal class DexFile(
         @JvmStatic
         private fun extractDexFromAar(file: File, dxTimeoutSecs: Int): List<DexFile> {
             // unzip classes.jar from the AAR
+            var minSdk = 13 // the default minSdkVersion of dx
             val tempClasses = file.unzip { entries ->
-                val jarFile = entries.find { it.name.matches(Regex("classes\\.jar")) }
-                makeTempFile("classes.jar").also {
-                    jarFile!!.writeTo(it)
+                var tempFile: File? = null
+
+                for (entry in entries) {
+                    if (entry.name == "AndroidManifest.xml") {
+                        val manifestText = entry.inputStream().bufferedReader().use { it.readText() }
+                        val match = Regex("""android:minSdkVersion="(\d+)"""").find(manifestText)
+                        if (match != null) {
+                            minSdk = match.groupValues[1].toInt()
+                        }
+                    }
+
+                    if (entry.name.matches(Regex("classes\\.jar"))) {
+                        tempFile = makeTempFile("classes.jar").also {
+                            entry.writeTo(it)
+                        }
+                    }
                 }
+
+                checkNotNull(tempFile) { "No classes.jar file found in ${file.canonicalPath}" }
             }
 
             // convert it to DEX format by using the Android dx tool
@@ -137,36 +153,34 @@ internal class DexFile(
                 throw Exception ("dx tool not found at " + dxExe.absolutePath)
             }
 
-            // ~/android-sdk/build-tools/23.0.3/dx --dex --output=temp.dex classes.jar
-            val tempDex = makeTempFile("classes.dex")
+            // Figure out if this version of dx has the --min-sdk-version flag
+            val dexHelp = runProcess(dxExe, listOf("--help"), timeoutMillis = 5000L)
+            if (dexHelp.timedOut || dexHelp.exitCode != 1) { // dx --help seems to always exit with code 1
+                throw DexCountException("Unable to run dx --help (file: $dxExe)")
+            }
 
-            val sout = StringBuilder()
-            val serr = StringBuilder()
-            val proc = ProcessBuilder().command(
-                    dxExe.absolutePath,
-                    "--dex",
-                    "--output=${tempDex.absolutePath}",
-                    tempClasses.absolutePath)
-                .start()
+            val hasMinSdkFlag = dexHelp.stdout.contains("--min-sdk-version") || dexHelp.stderr.contains("--min-sdk-version")
 
-            val didFinish = proc.waitForProcessOutput(
-                stdout = sout,
-                stderr = serr,
-                timeoutMillis = TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(dxTimeoutSecs.toLong()))
+            // ~/android-sdk/build-tools/23.0.3/dx --dex --output=temp.dex classes.jar
+            val tempDex = makeTempFile("classes.dex")
 
-            val exitCode = if (didFinish) proc.exitValue() else -1
-            proc.dispose()
+            val dexArgs = mutableListOf("--dex", "--output=${tempDex.absolutePath}")
+            if (hasMinSdkFlag) {
+                dexArgs += "--min-sdk-version=$minSdk"
+            }
+            dexArgs += tempClasses.absolutePath
 
-            if (!didFinish) {
+            val dexRun = runProcess(dxExe, dexArgs, TimeUnit.SECONDS.toMillis(dxTimeoutSecs.toLong()))
+            if (dexRun.timedOut) {
                 throw DexCountException("dx timed out after $dxTimeoutSecs seconds")
             }
 
-            if (exitCode != 0) {
-                throw DexCountException("dx exited with exit code $exitCode\nstderr=$serr")
+            if (dexRun.exitCode != 0) {
+                throw DexCountException("dx exited with exit code ${dexRun.exitCode}\nstderr=${dexRun.stderr}")
             }
 
             if (!tempDex.exists()) {
-                throw DexCountException("Error converting classes.jar into classes.dex: $serr")
+                throw DexCountException("Error converting classes.jar into classes.dex: ${dexRun.stderr}")
             }
 
             return listOf(DexFile(tempDex, true))
@@ -344,6 +358,30 @@ private class StreamableZipEntry(
     }
 }
 
+private data class Execution(
+    val timedOut: Boolean,
+    val exitCode: Int,
+    val stdout: StringBuilder,
+    val stderr: StringBuilder
+)
+
+private fun runProcess(exe: File, args: List<String>, timeoutMillis: Long): Execution {
+    val stdout = StringBuilder()
+    val stderr = StringBuilder()
+
+    val proc = ProcessBuilder(
+        exe.absolutePath,
+        *args.toTypedArray()
+    ).start()
+
+    val didFinish = proc.waitForProcessOutput(stdout, stderr, timeoutMillis)
+    val exitCode = if (didFinish) proc.exitValue() else -1
+
+    proc.dispose()
+
+    return Execution(!didFinish, exitCode, stdout, stderr)
+}
+
 private fun Process.waitForProcessOutput(stdout: Appendable, stderr: Appendable, timeoutMillis: Long): Boolean {
     val (o, e) = consumeStdout(stdout) to consumeStderr(stderr)