Android Studio/Gradle's NDK compile rule is rigid. You may need to use your own Makefile. Here's how I managed to do it. Original problem I was compiling OpenCV sample project and got the following NDK related error: :openCVSamplefacedetection:compileDebugNdk FAILED Error:Execution failed for task ':openCVSamplefacedetection:compileDebugNdk'. > NDK not configured. Download the NDK from http://dev