diff --git a/android/cli/commands/_build.js b/android/cli/commands/_build.js
index 7441db61af4..88a74eda1db 100644
--- a/android/cli/commands/_build.js
+++ b/android/cli/commands/_build.js
@@ -2042,12 +2042,10 @@ AndroidBuilder.prototype.getLastBuildState = function getLastBuildState(next) {
 	(function walk(dir) {
 		fs.existsSync(dir) && fs.readdirSync(dir).forEach(function (name) {
 			var file = path.join(dir, name);
-			if (fs.existsSync(file)) {
-				if (fs.statSync(file).isDirectory()) {
-					walk(file);
-				} else {
-					lastBuildFiles[file] = 1;
-				}
+			if (fs.existsSync(file) && fs.statSync(file).isDirectory()) {
+				walk(file);
+			} else {
+				lastBuildFiles[file] = 1;
 			}
 		});
 	}(this.buildDir));
@@ -2910,9 +2908,19 @@ AndroidBuilder.prototype.copyModuleResources = function copyModuleResources(next
 
 AndroidBuilder.prototype.removeOldFiles = function removeOldFiles(next) {
 	Object.keys(this.lastBuildFiles).forEach(function (file) {
-		if ((file.indexOf(this.buildAssetsDir) == 0 || file.indexOf(this.buildBinAssetsResourcesDir) == 0 || (this.forceRebuild && file.indexOf(this.buildGenAppIdDir) == 0) || file.indexOf(this.buildResDir) == 0) && fs.existsSync(file)) {
-			this.logger.debug(__('Removing old file: %s', file.cyan));
-			fs.unlinkSync(file);
+		if (path.dirname(file) == this.buildDir || file.indexOf(this.buildAssetsDir) == 0 || file.indexOf(this.buildBinAssetsResourcesDir) == 0 || (this.forceRebuild && file.indexOf(this.buildGenAppIdDir) == 0) || file.indexOf(this.buildResDir) == 0) {
+			if (fs.existsSync(file)) {
+				this.logger.debug(__('Removing old file: %s', file.cyan));
+				fs.unlinkSync(file);
+			} else {
+				// maybe it's a symlink?
+				try {
+					if (fs.lstatSync(file)) {
+						this.logger.debug(__('Removing old symlink: %s', file.cyan));
+						fs.unlinkSync(file);
+					}
+				} catch (e) {}
+			}
 		}
 	}, this);
 
@@ -3425,6 +3433,9 @@ AndroidBuilder.prototype.generateAndroidManifest = function generateAndroidManif
 		finalAndroidManifest['uses-permission'].indexOf(perm) == -1 && finalAndroidManifest['uses-permission'].push(perm);
 	});
 
+	// if the AndroidManifest.xml already exists, remove it so that we aren't updating the original file (if it's symlinked)
+	fs.existsSync(this.androidManifestFile) && fs.unlinkSync(this.androidManifestFile);
+
 	fs.writeFileSync(this.androidManifestFile, finalAndroidManifest.toString('xml'));
 
 	next();
diff --git a/android/cli/locales/en.js b/android/cli/locales/en.js
index f1e96d04538..8f48bb5ea66 100644
--- a/android/cli/locales/en.js
+++ b/android/cli/locales/en.js
@@ -215,7 +215,7 @@
 	"Processing JavaScript files": "Processing JavaScript files",
 	"Encrypting JavaScript files: %s": "Encrypting JavaScript files: %s",
 	"Failed to encrypt JavaScript files": "Failed to encrypt JavaScript files",
-	"64-bit titanium prep failed, trying again using 32-bit": "64-bit titanium prep failed, trying again using 32-bit",
+	"32-bit titanium prep failed, trying again using 64-bit": "32-bit titanium prep failed, trying again using 64-bit",
 	"Adding library %s": "Adding library %s",
 	"Unknown namespace %s, skipping": "Unknown namespace %s, skipping",
 	"Adding dependency library %s": "Adding dependency library %s",
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@
 	"Extracting module resources: %s": "Extracting module resources: %s",
 	"Failed to extract module resource zip: %s": "Failed to extract module resource zip: %s",
 	"Removing old file: %s": "Removing old file: %s",
+	"Removing old symlink: %s": "Removing old symlink: %s",
 	"Copying template %s => %s": "Copying template %s => %s",
 	"Generating activity class: %s": "Generating activity class: %s",
 	"Generating interval service class: %s": "Generating interval service class: %s",