diff --git a/renderdoc/android/android.cpp b/renderdoc/android/android.cpp
index 6d6eac660..ed68d83a3 100644
--- a/renderdoc/android/android.cpp
+++ b/renderdoc/android/android.cpp
@@ -579,7 +579,7 @@ extern "C" RENDERDOC_API void RENDERDOC_CC RENDERDOC_EnumerateAndroidDevices(rdc
 
 extern "C" RENDERDOC_API void RENDERDOC_CC RENDERDOC_AndroidInitialise()
 {
-  Android::adbExecCommand("", "start-server", ".", true);
+  Android::initAdb();
 }
 
 extern "C" RENDERDOC_API void RENDERDOC_CC RENDERDOC_AndroidShutdown()
diff --git a/renderdoc/android/android.h b/renderdoc/android/android.h
index a196cdf4b..d1e93e27a 100644
--- a/renderdoc/android/android.h
+++ b/renderdoc/android/android.h
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ void ResetCaptureSettings(const std::string &deviceID);
 void ExtractDeviceIDAndIndex(const std::string &hostname, int &index, std::string &deviceID);
 Process::ProcessResult adbExecCommand(const std::string &deviceID, const std::string &args,
                                       const string &workDir = ".", bool silent = false);
+void initAdb();
 void shutdownAdb();
 bool InjectWithJDWP(const std::string &deviceID, uint16_t jdwpport);
 };
diff --git a/renderdoc/android/android_tools.cpp b/renderdoc/android/android_tools.cpp
index ee88a8bcc..29f7a95ea 100644
--- a/renderdoc/android/android_tools.cpp
+++ b/renderdoc/android/android_tools.cpp
@@ -307,6 +307,12 @@ Process::ProcessResult adbExecCommand(const std::string &device, const std::stri
     deviceArgs = StringFormat::Fmt("-s %s %s", device.c_str(), args.c_str());
   return execCommand(adb, deviceArgs, workDir, silent);
 }
+void initAdb()
+{
+  // we don't use adbExecCommand because we need to be sure we don't wait for it to exit
+  std::string adb = getToolPath(ToolDir::PlatformTools, "adb", false);
+  Process::LaunchProcess(adb.c_str(), ".", "start-server", true);
+}
 void shutdownAdb()
 {
   if(adbKillServer)