diff --git a/docker/android/Dockerfile b/docker/android/Dockerfile
index 61b04e6..ca1cd62 100644
--- a/docker/android/Dockerfile
+++ b/docker/android/Dockerfile
@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ RUN apt-get update && apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
         # missing `git lfs pull` that no amount of pulling would have fixed,
         # because the client was never here to run.
         git-lfs \
+        # file: the API-level check reads the Android version out of the linked
+        # .so's ELF notes with it. Its absence hid behind the missing model for
+        # as long as the build panicked before ever reaching that line.
+        file \
         # zip: package.sh adds the .so and dex to the aapt2-linked APK
         zip \
         openjdk-${JDK_VERSION}-jdk-headless \