diff --git a/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/__fixtures__/files/AndroidManifest-few-activities.xml b/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/__fixtures__/files/AndroidManifest-few-activities.xml
index 5498f5608..bc87b67ca 100644
--- a/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/__fixtures__/files/AndroidManifest-few-activities.xml
+++ b/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/__fixtures__/files/AndroidManifest-few-activities.xml
@@ -16,5 +16,4 @@
     </activity>
     <activity android:name="com.facebook.react.devsupport.DevSettingsActivity" android:exported="false"/>
   </application>
-  </queries>
 </manifest>
diff --git a/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/__tests__/getMainActivity.test.ts b/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/__tests__/getMainActivity.test.ts
index a1acfed78..08fdf766f 100644
--- a/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/__tests__/getMainActivity.test.ts
+++ b/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/__tests__/getMainActivity.test.ts
@@ -31,6 +31,15 @@ describe('android::getMainActivity', () => {
           app: mocks.customFlavor,
         },
       },
+      invalid: {
+        android: {
+          app: {
+            src: {
+              'AndroidManifest.xml': '<manifest><application></manifest>',
+            },
+          },
+        },
+      },
     });
   });
 
@@ -70,4 +79,9 @@ describe('android::getMainActivity', () => {
     const fakeManifestPath = findManifest('/empty');
     expect(getMainActivity(fakeManifestPath || '')).toBeNull();
   });
+
+  it('returns null if the manifest XML is invalid', () => {
+    const manifestPath = findManifest('/invalid');
+    expect(getMainActivity(manifestPath || '')).toBeNull();
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/getMainActivity.ts b/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/getMainActivity.ts
index 702452382..cf6c0db9c 100644
--- a/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/getMainActivity.ts
+++ b/packages/cli-config-android/src/config/getMainActivity.ts
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ export default function getMainActivity(manifestPath: string): string | null {
     const xmlParser = new XMLParser({ignoreAttributes: false});
     const manifestContent = fs.readFileSync(manifestPath, {encoding: 'utf8'});
 
-    if (XMLValidator.validate(manifestContent)) {
+    if (XMLValidator.validate(manifestContent) === true) {
       const {manifest} = xmlParser.parse(manifestContent);
 
       const application = manifest.application || {};