diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/android_device.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/android_device.dart
index 42cc36449d7..0f7ee7036e1 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/android_device.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/android/android_device.dart
@@ -683,7 +683,6 @@ class AndroidDevice extends Device {
           return LaunchResult.failed();
         }
       }
-      resetLogReaders();
       return LaunchResult.succeeded(observatoryUri: observatoryUri);
     } on Exception catch (error) {
       _logger.printError('Error waiting for a debug connection: $error');
@@ -743,14 +742,6 @@ class AndroidDevice extends Device {
     _processUtils.runSync(adbCommandForDevice(<String>['logcat', '-c']));
   }
 
-  /// Android device log readers are singletons. if they are closed by the
-  /// protocol discovery, the same kind of reader cannot be recreated.
-  @visibleForTesting
-  void resetLogReaders() {
-    _pastLogReader = null;
-    _logReader = null;
-  }
-
   @override
   FutureOr<DeviceLogReader> getLogReader({
     AndroidApk app,
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/drive.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/drive.dart
index ddafa37bff6..bcc6fc896e2 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/drive.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/lib/src/commands/drive.dart
@@ -490,6 +490,12 @@ Future<LaunchResult> _startApp(
 
   globals.printTrace('Starting application.');
 
+  // Forward device log messages to the terminal window running the "drive" command.
+  final DeviceLogReader logReader = await command.device.getLogReader(app: package);
+  command._deviceLogSubscription = logReader
+    .logLines
+    .listen(globals.printStatus);
+
   final LaunchResult result = await command.device.startApp(
     package,
     mainPath: mainPath,
@@ -511,15 +517,10 @@ Future<LaunchResult> _startApp(
   );
 
   if (!result.started) {
+    await command._deviceLogSubscription.cancel();
     return null;
   }
 
-  // Forward device log messages to the terminal window running the "drive" command.
-  final DeviceLogReader logReader = await command.device.getLogReader(app: package);
-  command._deviceLogSubscription = logReader
-    .logLines
-    .listen(globals.printStatus);
-
   return result;
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/android/android_device_test.dart b/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/android/android_device_test.dart
index b760698d67c..d1ae8cdbca5 100644
--- a/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/android/android_device_test.dart
+++ b/packages/flutter_tools/test/general.shard/android/android_device_test.dart
@@ -30,20 +30,6 @@ void main() {
     expect(device.id, '1234');
   });
 
-  testWithoutContext('Can reset log reader singletons', () async {
-    final AndroidDevice device = setUpAndroidDevice();
-    final DeviceLogReader logReader = await device.getLogReader();
-    final DeviceLogReader logReader2 = await device.getLogReader();
-
-    expect(logReader, logReader2);
-
-    device.resetLogReaders();
-
-    final DeviceLogReader logReader3 = await device.getLogReader();
-
-    expect(logReader, isNot(logReader3));
-  });
-
   testWithoutContext('parseAdbDeviceProperties parses adb shell output', () {
     final Map<String, String> properties = parseAdbDeviceProperties(kAdbShellGetprop);