diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index 673f756..0e6d86d 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ RUN apt-get -y update && \
     apt-get -y install --no-install-recommends \
         git vim parted \
         quilt coreutils qemu-user-static debootstrap zerofree zip dosfstools \
-        libarchive-tools libcap2-bin rsync grep udev xz-utils curl xxd file kmod bc\
-        binfmt-support ca-certificates fdisk gpg pigz\
+        libarchive-tools libcap2-bin rsync grep udev xz-utils curl xxd file kmod bc \
+        binfmt-support ca-certificates fdisk gpg pigz arch-test \
     && rm -rf /var/lib/apt/lists/*
 
 COPY . /pi-gen/
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index c584825..279baaa 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ To install the required dependencies for `pi-gen` you should run:
 ```bash
 apt-get install coreutils quilt parted qemu-user-static debootstrap zerofree zip \
 dosfstools libarchive-tools libcap2-bin grep rsync xz-utils file git curl bc \
-gpg pigz xxd
+gpg pigz xxd arch-test
 ```
 
 The file `depends` contains a list of tools needed.  The format of this
diff --git a/build.sh b/build.sh
index 3cb10e7..d094eee 100755
--- a/build.sh
+++ b/build.sh
@@ -244,6 +244,15 @@ fi
 
 dependencies_check "${BASE_DIR}/depends"
 
+echo "Checking native $ARCH executable support..."
+if ! arch-test -n "$ARCH"; then
+	echo "WARNING: Only a native build environment is supported. Checking emulated support..."
+	if ! arch-test "$ARCH"; then
+		echo "No fallback mechanism found. Ensure your OS has binfmt_misc support enabled and configured."
+		exit 1
+	fi
+fi
+
 #check username is valid
 if [[ ! "$FIRST_USER_NAME" =~ ^[a-z][-a-z0-9_]*$ ]]; then
 	echo "Invalid FIRST_USER_NAME: $FIRST_USER_NAME"
diff --git a/depends b/depends
index 10fcdd4..acbb5cd 100644
--- a/depends
+++ b/depends
@@ -19,3 +19,4 @@ lsmod:kmod
 bc
 gpg
 pigz
+arch-test