diff --git a/src/BuildToolchains.jl b/src/BuildToolchains.jl
index 31fef5f0..e68bcebf 100644
--- a/src/BuildToolchains.jl
+++ b/src/BuildToolchains.jl
@@ -125,12 +125,16 @@ meson_cxx_link_args(p::AbstractPlatform) = meson_c_link_args(p)
 meson_objc_link_args(p::AbstractPlatform) = meson_c_link_args(p)
 meson_fortran_link_args(p::AbstractPlatform) = meson_c_link_args(p)
 
-# We can run native programs only on
+# We can run native programs only if the platform matches the default host
+# platform, but when this is `x86_64-linux-musl` we can run executables for
 # * i686-linux-gnu
 # * x86_64-linux-gnu
 # * x86_64-linux-musl
 function meson_is_foreign(p::AbstractPlatform)
-    if Sys.islinux(p) && proc_family(p) == "intel" && (libc(p) == "glibc" || (libc(p) == "musl" && arch(p) == "x86_64"))
+    if platforms_match(p, default_host_platform) ||
+        (platforms_match(default_host_platform, Platform("x86_64", "linux"; libc="musl"))
+         && Sys.islinux(p) && proc_family(p) == "intel" &&
+             (libc(p) == "glibc" || (libc(p) == "musl" && arch(p) == "x86_64")))
         # Better to explicitly return the string we expect rather than
         # relying on the representation of the boolean values (even though
         # the result is the same)
diff --git a/src/Rootfs.jl b/src/Rootfs.jl
index 89a01bd7..3af648c6 100644
--- a/src/Rootfs.jl
+++ b/src/Rootfs.jl
@@ -631,7 +631,7 @@ function choose_shards(p::AbstractPlatform;
     return shards
 end
 
-# XXX: we want AnyPlatform to look like `x86_64-linux-musl` in the build environment.
+# We want AnyPlatform to look like `default_host_platform` in the build environment.
 choose_shards(::AnyPlatform; kwargs...) = choose_shards(default_host_platform; kwargs...)
 
 """
diff --git a/src/Runner.jl b/src/Runner.jl
index cb3e9169..75f80b14 100644
--- a/src/Runner.jl
+++ b/src/Runner.jl
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ export default_host_platform
 
 The default host platform in the build environment.
 """
-const default_host_platform = Platform("x86_64", "linux"; libc="musl", cxxstring_abi="cxx11")
+const default_host_platform = Platform(arch(HostPlatform()), "linux"; libc="musl", cxxstring_abi="cxx11")
 
 function nbits(p::AbstractPlatform)
     if arch(p) in ("i686", "armv6l", "armv7l")
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ function aatriplet(p::AbstractPlatform)
     t = replace(t, "armv6l" => "arm")
     return t
 end
-# XXX: we want AnyPlatform to look like `x86_64-linux-musl` in the build environment.
+# We want AnyPlatform to look like `default_host_platform` in the build environment.
 aatriplet(p::AnyPlatform) = aatriplet(default_host_platform)
 
 function ld_library_path(target::AbstractPlatform,
@@ -896,7 +896,7 @@ function platform_envs(platform::AbstractPlatform, src_name::AbstractString;
         "dlext" => platform_dlext(platform),
         "exeext" => platform_exeext(platform),
         "PATH" => "/usr/local/bin:/usr/local/sbin:/usr/bin:/usr/sbin:/bin:/sbin",
-        "MACHTYPE" => "x86_64-linux-musl",
+        "MACHTYPE" => aatriplet(default_host_platform),
 
         # Set location parameters
         "WORKSPACE" => "/workspace",
diff --git a/src/utils.jl b/src/utils.jl
index 8a2147e5..0ac8070d 100644
--- a/src/utils.jl
+++ b/src/utils.jl
@@ -57,6 +57,6 @@ function get_concrete_platform(platform::AbstractPlatform; kwargs...)
     return get_concrete_platform(platform, shards)
 end
 
-# XXX: we want the AnyPlatform to look like `x86_64-linux-musl`,
+# We want the AnyPlatform to look like `default_host_platform`,
 get_concrete_platform(::AnyPlatform, shards::Vector{CompilerShard}) =
     get_concrete_platform(default_host_platform, shards)