diff --git a/core/java/android/net/nsd/NsdManager.java b/core/java/android/net/nsd/NsdManager.java
index 5a25cfc00c..ae8d010194 100644
--- a/core/java/android/net/nsd/NsdManager.java
+++ b/core/java/android/net/nsd/NsdManager.java
@@ -23,6 +23,9 @@ import static com.android.internal.util.Preconditions.checkStringNotEmpty;
 import android.annotation.SdkConstant;
 import android.annotation.SdkConstant.SdkConstantType;
 import android.annotation.SystemService;
+import android.app.compat.CompatChanges;
+import android.compat.annotation.ChangeId;
+import android.compat.annotation.EnabledSince;
 import android.content.Context;
 import android.os.Handler;
 import android.os.HandlerThread;
@@ -125,6 +128,24 @@ public final class NsdManager {
     private static final String TAG = NsdManager.class.getSimpleName();
     private static final boolean DBG = false;
 
+    /**
+     * When enabled, apps targeting < Android 12 are considered legacy for
+     * the NSD native daemon.
+     * The platform will only keep the daemon running as long as there are
+     * any legacy apps connected.
+     *
+     * After Android 12, directly communicate with native daemon might not
+     * work since the native damon won't always stay alive.
+     * Use the NSD APIs from NsdManager as the replacement is recommended.
+     * An another alternative could be bundling your own mdns solutions instead of
+     * depending on the system mdns native daemon.
+     *
+     * @hide
+     */
+    @ChangeId
+    @EnabledSince(targetSdkVersion = android.os.Build.VERSION_CODES.S)
+    public static final long RUN_NATIVE_NSD_ONLY_IF_LEGACY_APPS = 191844585L;
+
     /**
      * Broadcast intent action to indicate whether network service discovery is
      * enabled or disabled. An extra {@link #EXTRA_NSD_STATE} provides the state
@@ -202,6 +223,9 @@ public final class NsdManager {
     /** @hide */
     public static final int DAEMON_CLEANUP                          = BASE + 21;
 
+    /** @hide */
+    public static final int DAEMON_STARTUP                          = BASE + 22;
+
     /** @hide */
     public static final int ENABLE                                  = BASE + 24;
     /** @hide */
@@ -232,6 +256,8 @@ public final class NsdManager {
         EVENT_NAMES.put(RESOLVE_SERVICE, "RESOLVE_SERVICE");
         EVENT_NAMES.put(RESOLVE_SERVICE_FAILED, "RESOLVE_SERVICE_FAILED");
         EVENT_NAMES.put(RESOLVE_SERVICE_SUCCEEDED, "RESOLVE_SERVICE_SUCCEEDED");
+        EVENT_NAMES.put(DAEMON_CLEANUP, "DAEMON_CLEANUP");
+        EVENT_NAMES.put(DAEMON_STARTUP, "DAEMON_STARTUP");
         EVENT_NAMES.put(ENABLE, "ENABLE");
         EVENT_NAMES.put(DISABLE, "DISABLE");
         EVENT_NAMES.put(NATIVE_DAEMON_EVENT, "NATIVE_DAEMON_EVENT");
@@ -494,6 +520,12 @@ public final class NsdManager {
         } catch (InterruptedException e) {
             fatal("Interrupted wait at init");
         }
+        if (CompatChanges.isChangeEnabled(RUN_NATIVE_NSD_ONLY_IF_LEGACY_APPS)) {
+            return;
+        }
+        // Only proactively start the daemon if the target SDK < S, otherwise the internal service
+        // would automatically start/stop the native daemon as needed.
+        mAsyncChannel.sendMessage(DAEMON_STARTUP);
     }
 
     private static void fatal(String msg) {
diff --git a/services/core/java/com/android/server/NsdService.java b/services/core/java/com/android/server/NsdService.java
index a9f3a1b63b..462ed5c70d 100644
--- a/services/core/java/com/android/server/NsdService.java
+++ b/services/core/java/com/android/server/NsdService.java
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ public class NsdService extends INsdManager.Stub {
 
     private static final int INVALID_ID = 0;
     private int mUniqueId = 1;
+    // The count of the connected legacy clients.
+    private int mLegacyClientCount = 0;
 
     private class NsdStateMachine extends StateMachine {
 
@@ -107,7 +109,9 @@ public class NsdService extends INsdManager.Stub {
             sendMessageDelayed(NsdManager.DAEMON_CLEANUP, mCleanupDelayMs);
         }
         private void maybeScheduleStop() {
-            if (!isAnyRequestActive()) {
+            // The native daemon should stay alive and can't be cleanup
+            // if any legacy client connected.
+            if (!isAnyRequestActive() && mLegacyClientCount == 0) {
                 scheduleStop();
             }
         }
@@ -175,11 +179,11 @@ public class NsdService extends INsdManager.Stub {
                         if (cInfo != null) {
                             cInfo.expungeAllRequests();
                             mClients.remove(msg.replyTo);
+                            if (cInfo.isLegacy()) {
+                                mLegacyClientCount -= 1;
+                            }
                         }
-                        //Last client
-                        if (mClients.size() == 0) {
-                            scheduleStop();
-                        }
+                        maybeScheduleStop();
                         break;
                     case AsyncChannel.CMD_CHANNEL_FULL_CONNECTION:
                         AsyncChannel ac = new AsyncChannel();
@@ -208,6 +212,17 @@ public class NsdService extends INsdManager.Stub {
                     case NsdManager.DAEMON_CLEANUP:
                         mDaemon.maybeStop();
                         break;
+                    // This event should be only sent by the legacy (target SDK < S) clients.
+                    // Mark the sending client as legacy.
+                    case NsdManager.DAEMON_STARTUP:
+                        cInfo = mClients.get(msg.replyTo);
+                        if (cInfo != null) {
+                            cancelStop();
+                            cInfo.setLegacy();
+                            mLegacyClientCount += 1;
+                            maybeStartDaemon();
+                        }
+                        break;
                     case NsdManager.NATIVE_DAEMON_EVENT:
                     default:
                         Slog.e(TAG, "Unhandled " + msg);
@@ -863,6 +878,9 @@ public class NsdService extends INsdManager.Stub {
         /* A map from client id to the type of the request we had received */
         private final SparseIntArray mClientRequests = new SparseIntArray();
 
+        // The target SDK of this client < Build.VERSION_CODES.S
+        private boolean mIsLegacy = false;
+
         private ClientInfo(AsyncChannel c, Messenger m) {
             mChannel = c;
             mMessenger = m;
@@ -875,6 +893,7 @@ public class NsdService extends INsdManager.Stub {
             sb.append("mChannel ").append(mChannel).append("\n");
             sb.append("mMessenger ").append(mMessenger).append("\n");
             sb.append("mResolvedService ").append(mResolvedService).append("\n");
+            sb.append("mIsLegacy ").append(mIsLegacy).append("\n");
             for(int i = 0; i< mClientIds.size(); i++) {
                 int clientID = mClientIds.keyAt(i);
                 sb.append("clientId ").append(clientID).
@@ -884,6 +903,14 @@ public class NsdService extends INsdManager.Stub {
             return sb.toString();
         }
 
+        private boolean isLegacy() {
+            return mIsLegacy;
+        }
+
+        private void setLegacy() {
+            mIsLegacy = true;
+        }
+
         // Remove any pending requests from the global map when we get rid of a client,
         // and send cancellations to the daemon.
         private void expungeAllRequests() {