diff --git a/bin/templates/cordova/lib/android_sdk.js b/bin/templates/cordova/lib/android_sdk.js
index 79eeb1af..a1a806a6 100755
--- a/bin/templates/cordova/lib/android_sdk.js
+++ b/bin/templates/cordova/lib/android_sdk.js
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-
-
 /*
        Licensed to the Apache Software Foundation (ASF) under one
        or more contributor license agreements.  See the NOTICE file
@@ -95,7 +93,7 @@ module.exports.list_targets = function() {
         // If there's an error, like avdmanager could not be found, we can try
         // as a last resort, to run `android`, in case this is a super old
         // SDK installation.
-        if (err && err.code == 'ENOENT') {
+        if (err && (err.code == 'ENOENT' || (err.stderr && err.stderr.match(/not recognized/)))) {
             return module.exports.list_targets_with_android();
         } else throw err;
     })
diff --git a/bin/templates/cordova/lib/emulator.js b/bin/templates/cordova/lib/emulator.js
index c60dcb5c..22209aa0 100644
--- a/bin/templates/cordova/lib/emulator.js
+++ b/bin/templates/cordova/lib/emulator.js
@@ -172,17 +172,7 @@ module.exports.list_images_using_android = function() {
  */
 module.exports.list_images = function() {
     if (forgivingWhichSync('avdmanager')) {
-        return module.exports.list_images_using_avdmanager()
-        .catch(function(err) {
-            // try to use `avdmanager` in case `android` reports it is no longer available.
-            // this likely means the target machine is using a newer version of
-            // the android sdk, and possibly `avdmanager` is available.
-            if (err && err.code == 'ENOENT') {
-                return module.exports.list_images_using_android();
-            } else {
-                throw err;
-            }
-        });
+        return module.exports.list_images_using_avdmanager();
     } else if (forgivingWhichSync('android')) {
         return module.exports.list_images_using_android();
     } else {
diff --git a/spec/unit/android_sdk.spec.js b/spec/unit/android_sdk.spec.js
index 9434443e..04322ce8 100644
--- a/spec/unit/android_sdk.spec.js
+++ b/spec/unit/android_sdk.spec.js
@@ -98,9 +98,26 @@ describe("android_sdk", function () {
                 done();
             });
         });
+        it("should parse Android SDK installed target information with `android` command if list_targets_with_avdmanager fails with not-recognized error (Windows)", function(done) {
+            var deferred = Q.defer();
+            spyOn(android_sdk, "list_targets_with_avdmanager").and.returnValue(deferred.promise);
+            deferred.reject({
+                code: 1,
+                stderr: "'avdmanager' is not recognized as an internal or external commmand,\r\noperable program or batch file.\r\n"
+            });
+            var twoferred = Q.defer();
+            twoferred.resolve(["target1"]);
+            var avdmanager_spy = spyOn(android_sdk, "list_targets_with_android").and.returnValue(twoferred.promise);
+            return android_sdk.list_targets()
+            .then(function(targets) {
+                expect(avdmanager_spy).toHaveBeenCalled();
+                expect(targets[0]).toEqual("target1");
+                done();
+            });
+        });
         it("should throw an error if no Android targets were found.", function(done) {
             var deferred = Q.defer();
-            spyOn(android_sdk, "list_targets_with_android").and.returnValue(deferred.promise);
+            spyOn(android_sdk, "list_targets_with_avdmanager").and.returnValue(deferred.promise);
             deferred.resolve([]);
             return android_sdk.list_targets()
             .then(function(targets) {
diff --git a/spec/unit/emulator.spec.js b/spec/unit/emulator.spec.js
index 88122559..8aef5efc 100644
--- a/spec/unit/emulator.spec.js
+++ b/spec/unit/emulator.spec.js
@@ -88,23 +88,14 @@ describe("emulator", function () {
             emu.list_images();
             expect(avdmanager_spy).toHaveBeenCalled();
         });
-        it("should catch if `avdmanager` exits with non-zero code, and delegate to `android` if it can find it", function() {
+        it("should delegate to `android` if `avdmanager` cant be found and `android` can", function() {
             spyOn(shelljs, "which").and.callFake(function(cmd) {
                 if (cmd == "avdmanager") {
-                    return true;
-                } else {
                     return false;
+                } else {
+                    return true;
                 }
             });
-            spyOn(emu, "list_images_using_avdmanager").and.returnValue({
-                catch:function(cb) {
-                    cb({
-                        code: "ENOENT"
-                    });
-                }
-            });
-
-            // Fake out the old promise to feign a failed `android` command
             var android_spy = spyOn(emu, "list_images_using_android");
             emu.list_images();
             expect(android_spy).toHaveBeenCalled();