diff --git a/src/realm/util/file.cpp b/src/realm/util/file.cpp
index 09c0f99f35b..6148cf5e939 100644
--- a/src/realm/util/file.cpp
+++ b/src/realm/util/file.cpp
@@ -1098,6 +1098,11 @@ static void _unlock(int m_fd)
     do {
         r = flock(m_fd, LOCK_UN);
     } while (r != 0 && errno == EINTR);
+#if REALM_ANDROID
+    if (r && errno) {
+        throw RuntimeError("File::unlock() has failed, this is likely due to some limitation in the OS file system.")
+    }
+#endif
     REALM_ASSERT_RELEASE_EX(r == 0 && "File::unlock()", r, errno);
 }
 #endif