diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index ffc92f5b..ab42c268 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -1,5 +1,3 @@
-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
 
diff --git a/common.mak b/common.mak
index 1d88254f..60145d2e 100644
--- a/common.mak
+++ b/common.mak
@@ -12,6 +12,8 @@ MAKECMDGOALS ?=
 ifeq ($(COMMON_INCLUDED),false)
 COMMON_INCLUDED := true
 
+HOST_ARCH ?= $(shell uname -m | sed -e 's/i.86/i386/' -e 's/sun4u/sparc64/' -e 's/arm.*/arm/' -e 's/sa110/arm/')
+
 # Global definitions
 # The variable "DISTRELEASE" should be overwritten in rpm spec files with:
 # "make DISTRELEASE=%{release}" and "make install DISTRELEASE=%{release}"