diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ce699333..1190b605 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -10,7 +10,8 @@ ifndef ARCHES
 ifdef ARCH
 ARCHES := $(ARCH)
 else
-ARCHES := $(shell arch | sed 's/i686/i586/; s/armv.*/arm/; s/ppc.*/ppc/')
+ARCHES := $(shell arch \
+	| sed 's/i686/i586/; s/armv7.*/armh/; s/armv.*/arm/; s/ppc.*/ppc/')
 endif
 endif
 export ARCHES
diff --git a/lib/build.mk b/lib/build.mk
index baf407b8..9790e820 100644
--- a/lib/build.mk
+++ b/lib/build.mk
@@ -21,10 +21,12 @@ LOWSPACE = 1024
 START += time -f "%E %PCPU %Mk"
 
 # /usr/bin/{i586,x86_64} are setarch(8) symlinks but arm is not;
+# armh (armv7l) doesn't have any but should cope with qemu-arm.static;
 # also check whether non-x86 build is running native
+EARCH := $(subst armh,arm,$(ARCH))
 ifeq (,$(wildcard $(subst :,/$(ARCH) ,$(PATH):)))
-ifeq (,$(findstring $(ARCH),$(shell uname -m)))
-export GLOBAL_HSH_USE_QEMU=$(ARCH)
+ifeq (,$(findstring $(EARCH),$(shell uname -m)))
+export GLOBAL_HSH_USE_QEMU=$(EARCH)
 endif
 else
 START += $(ARCH)