diff --git a/config/options b/config/options
index abab4c0a9f..42e85dc5f0 100644
--- a/config/options
+++ b/config/options
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 # Project name
 PROJECT=${PROJECT}
 
+# determines TARGET_ARCH, if not forced by user
+if [ -z "$ARCH" ]; then
+  TARGET_ARCH="i386"
+else
+  TARGET_ARCH=$ARCH
+fi
+
 ROOT=`pwd`
 PROJECT_DIR=$ROOT/projects