--- a/testing/mozharness/scripts/android_emulator_unittest.py
+++ b/testing/mozharness/scripts/android_emulator_unittest.py
@@ -372,17 +372,17 @@ class AndroidEmulatorTest(BlobUploadMixi
         for line in out.splitlines():
             if process_name in line:
                 pid = int(line.split(None, 1)[0])
                 self.info("Killing pid %d." % pid)
                 os.kill(pid, signal.SIGKILL)
 
     def _restart_adbd(self):
         self._run_with_timeout(30, [self.adb_path, 'kill-server'])
-        self._run_with_timeout(30, [self.adb_path, 'start-server'])
+        self._run_with_timeout(30, [self.adb_path, 'root'])
 
     def _screenshot(self, prefix):
         """
            Save a screenshot of the entire screen to the blob upload directory.
         """
         dirs = self.query_abs_dirs()
         utility = os.path.join(self.xre_path, "screentopng")
         if not os.path.exists(utility):