diff --git a/mobly/controllers/android_device_lib/adb.py b/mobly/controllers/android_device_lib/adb.py
index 1814d19..11539fb 100644
--- a/mobly/controllers/android_device_lib/adb.py
+++ b/mobly/controllers/android_device_lib/adb.py
@@ -93,6 +93,19 @@
         utils.cli_cmd_to_string(self.cmd), self.timeout)
 
 
+def is_adb_available():
+  """Checks if adb is available as a command line tool.
+
+  Returns:
+    True if adb binary is available in console, False otherwise.
+  """
+  ret, out, err = utils.run_command('which adb', shell=True)
+  clean_out = out.decode('utf-8').strip()
+  if clean_out:
+    return True
+  return False
+
+
 def list_occupied_adb_ports():
   """Lists all the host ports occupied by adb forward.
 
diff --git a/mobly/utils.py b/mobly/utils.py
index 5d63c1d..5aca4a7 100644
--- a/mobly/utils.py
+++ b/mobly/utils.py
@@ -517,12 +517,15 @@
   """
   # Only import adb module if needed.
   from mobly.controllers.android_device_lib import adb
+  port = portpicker.pick_unused_port()
+  if not adb.is_adb_available():
+    return port
   for _ in range(MAX_PORT_ALLOCATION_RETRY):
-    port = portpicker.PickUnusedPort()
     # Make sure adb is not using this port so we don't accidentally
     # interrupt ongoing runs by trying to bind to the port.
     if port not in adb.list_occupied_adb_ports():
       return port
+    port = portpicker.pick_unused_port()
   raise Error('Failed to find available port after {} retries'.format(
       MAX_PORT_ALLOCATION_RETRY))
 
diff --git a/tests/mobly/controllers/android_device_lib/adb_test.py b/tests/mobly/controllers/android_device_lib/adb_test.py
index e97eaf2..099cff0 100755
--- a/tests/mobly/controllers/android_device_lib/adb_test.py
+++ b/tests/mobly/controllers/android_device_lib/adb_test.py
@@ -86,6 +86,17 @@
     return mock_popen
 
   @mock.patch('mobly.utils.run_command')
+  def test_is_adb_available(self, mock_run_command):
+    mock_run_command.return_value = (0, '/usr/local/bin/adb\n'.encode('utf-8'),
+                                     ''.encode('utf-8'))
+    self.assertTrue(adb.is_adb_available())
+
+  @mock.patch('mobly.utils.run_command')
+  def test_is_adb_available_negative(self, mock_run_command):
+    mock_run_command.return_value = (0, ''.encode('utf-8'), ''.encode('utf-8'))
+    self.assertFalse(adb.is_adb_available())
+
+  @mock.patch('mobly.utils.run_command')
   def test_exec_cmd_no_timeout_success(self, mock_run_command):
     mock_run_command.return_value = (0, MOCK_DEFAULT_STDOUT.encode('utf-8'),
                                      MOCK_DEFAULT_STDERR.encode('utf-8'))
diff --git a/tests/mobly/utils_test.py b/tests/mobly/utils_test.py
index f047827..3b499a6 100755
--- a/tests/mobly/utils_test.py
+++ b/tests/mobly/utils_test.py
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 from tests.lib import multiple_subclasses_module
 
 MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT = 5
+ADB_MODULE_PACKAGE_NAME = 'mobly.controllers.android_device_lib.adb'
 
 
 class UtilsTest(unittest.TestCase):
@@ -418,24 +419,34 @@
     utils.create_dir(self.tmp_dir)
     self.assertTrue(os.path.exists(self.tmp_dir))
 
-  @mock.patch('mobly.controllers.android_device_lib.adb.list_occupied_adb_ports'
-             )
-  @mock.patch('portpicker.PickUnusedPort', return_value=MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT)
-  def test_get_available_port_positive(self, mock_list_occupied_adb_ports,
+  @mock.patch(f'{ADB_MODULE_PACKAGE_NAME}.is_adb_available', return_value=True)
+  @mock.patch(f'{ADB_MODULE_PACKAGE_NAME}.list_occupied_adb_ports')
+  @mock.patch('portpicker.pick_unused_port', return_value=MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT)
+  def test_get_available_port_positive(self, mock_is_adb_available,
+                                       mock_list_occupied_adb_ports,
                                        mock_pick_unused_port):
     self.assertEqual(utils.get_available_host_port(), MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT)
 
-  @mock.patch(
-      'mobly.controllers.android_device_lib.adb.list_occupied_adb_ports',
-      return_value=[MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT])
-  @mock.patch('portpicker.PickUnusedPort', return_value=MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT)
-  def test_get_available_port_negative(self, mock_list_occupied_adb_ports,
+  @mock.patch(f'{ADB_MODULE_PACKAGE_NAME}.is_adb_available', return_value=False)
+  @mock.patch(f'{ADB_MODULE_PACKAGE_NAME}.list_occupied_adb_ports')
+  @mock.patch('portpicker.pick_unused_port', return_value=MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT)
+  def test_get_available_port_positive_no_adb(self, mock_is_adb_available,
+                                              mock_list_occupied_adb_ports,
+                                              mock_pick_unused_port):
+    self.assertEqual(utils.get_available_host_port(), MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT)
+    mock_list_occupied_adb_ports.assert_not_called()
+
+  @mock.patch(f'{ADB_MODULE_PACKAGE_NAME}.is_adb_available', return_value=True)
+  @mock.patch(f'{ADB_MODULE_PACKAGE_NAME}.list_occupied_adb_ports',
+              return_value=[MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT])
+  @mock.patch('portpicker.pick_unused_port', return_value=MOCK_AVAILABLE_PORT)
+  def test_get_available_port_negative(self, mock_is_adb_available,
+                                       mock_list_occupied_adb_ports,
                                        mock_pick_unused_port):
     with self.assertRaisesRegex(utils.Error, 'Failed to find.* retries'):
       utils.get_available_host_port()
 
-  @mock.patch('mobly.controllers.android_device_lib.adb.list_occupied_adb_ports'
-             )
+  @mock.patch(f'{ADB_MODULE_PACKAGE_NAME}.list_occupied_adb_ports')
   def test_get_available_port_returns_free_port(self,
                                                 mock_list_occupied_adb_ports):
     """Verifies logic to pick a free port on the host.