diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 4d1b6ed4..e76f3cba 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@ Release history for s390-tools (MIT version)
   - Add `PKG_CONFIG` Makefile variable to select pkg-config program;
     default `pkg-config` or `$(CROSS_COMPILE)pkg-config` if
     `CROSS_COMPILE` is set
+  - rename Makefile variable `ARCH` to `HOST_ARCH`. `HOST_ARCH` is the
+    architecture that will run the produced (executable) objects
 
   Bug Fixes:
 
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 851b97f4..ffc92f5b 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-ARCH := $(shell uname -m | sed -e 's/i.86/i386/' -e 's/sun4u/sparc64/' -e 's/arm.*/arm/' -e 's/sa110/arm/')
+HOST_ARCH := $(shell uname -m | sed -e 's/i.86/i386/' -e 's/sun4u/sparc64/' -e 's/arm.*/arm/' -e 's/sa110/arm/')
 
 # Include common definitions
 include common.mak
@@ -49,15 +49,15 @@ endif
 
 $(TOOL_DIRS): $(LIB_DIRS)
 	$(foreach goal,$(MAKECMDGOALS), \
-		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) ARCH=$(ARCH) $(goal) ;)
+		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) HOST_ARCH=$(HOST_ARCH) $(goal) ;)
 .PHONY: $(TOOL_DIRS)
 
 $(LIB_DIRS): $(BASELIB_DIRS)
 	$(foreach goal,$(MAKECMDGOALS), \
-		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) ARCH=$(ARCH) $(goal) ;)
+		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) HOST_ARCH=$(HOST_ARCH) $(goal) ;)
 .PHONY: $(LIB_DIRS)
 
 $(BASELIB_DIRS):
 	$(foreach goal,$(MAKECMDGOALS), \
-		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) ARCH=$(ARCH) $(goal) ;)
+		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) HOST_ARCH=$(HOST_ARCH) $(goal) ;)
 .PHONY: $(BASELIB_DIRS)
diff --git a/zconf/Makefile b/zconf/Makefile
index 7f75d78e..5ca5e8a0 100644
--- a/zconf/Makefile
+++ b/zconf/Makefile
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ endif
 
 $(SUB_DIRS):
 	$(foreach goal,$(MAKECMDGOALS), \
-		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) ARCH=$(ARCH) $(goal) ;)
+		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) HOST_ARCH=$(HOST_ARCH) $(goal) ;)
 .PHONY: $(SUB_DIRS)
 
 .PHONY: all install clean install-scripts install-manpages install-usrsbin-scripts
diff --git a/zkey/Makefile b/zkey/Makefile
index b5681791..41f8760f 100644
--- a/zkey/Makefile
+++ b/zkey/Makefile
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ endif
 
 $(SUB_DIRS):
 	$(foreach goal,$(MAKECMDGOALS), \
-		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) ARCH=$(ARCH) $(goal) ;)
+		$(MAKE) -C $@ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) HOST_ARCH=$(HOST_ARCH) $(goal) ;)
 .PHONY: $(SUB_DIRS)
 
 .PHONY: all install clean zkey-skip zkey-cryptsetup-skip-cryptsetup2 \
diff --git a/zkey/ekmfweb/Makefile b/zkey/ekmfweb/Makefile
index 209074d1..450cff72 100644
--- a/zkey/ekmfweb/Makefile
+++ b/zkey/ekmfweb/Makefile
@@ -38,11 +38,11 @@ zkey-ekmfweb.so: zkey-ekmfweb.o plugin-utils.o properties.o pkey.o cca.o \
 	$(LINK) $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $@
 
 install-libekmfweb.dep:
-	$(MAKE) -C $(rootdir)/libekmfweb/ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) ARCH=$(ARCH) install
+	$(MAKE) -C $(rootdir)/libekmfweb/ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) HOST_ARCH=$(HOST_ARCH) install
 	touch install-libekmfweb.dep
 
 libekmfweb.dep:
-	$(MAKE) -C $(rootdir)/libekmfweb/ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) ARCH=$(ARCH) all
+	$(MAKE) -C $(rootdir)/libekmfweb/ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) HOST_ARCH=$(HOST_ARCH) all
 	touch libekmfweb.dep
 
 install: all install-libekmfweb.dep zkey-ekmfweb.so
diff --git a/zkey/kmip/Makefile b/zkey/kmip/Makefile
index ac13c06e..5c21b586 100644
--- a/zkey/kmip/Makefile
+++ b/zkey/kmip/Makefile
@@ -39,11 +39,11 @@ zkey-kmip.so: zkey-kmip.o plugin-utils.o properties.o pkey.o cca.o ep11.o \
 	$(LINK) $(ALL_LDFLAGS) $^ $(LDLIBS) -o $@
 
 install-libkmipclient.dep:
-	$(MAKE) -C $(rootdir)/libkmipclient/ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) ARCH=$(ARCH) install
+	$(MAKE) -C $(rootdir)/libkmipclient/ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) HOST_ARCH=$(HOST_ARCH) install
 	touch install-libkmipclient.dep
 
 libkmipclient.dep:
-	$(MAKE) -C $(rootdir)/libkmipclient/ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) ARCH=$(ARCH) all
+	$(MAKE) -C $(rootdir)/libkmipclient/ TOPDIR=$(TOPDIR) HOST_ARCH=$(HOST_ARCH) all
 	touch libkmipclient.dep
 
 install: all install-libkmipclient.dep zkey-kmip.so