diff --git a/scripts/package/mkspec b/scripts/package/mkspec
index 783e1997d94a..22b980cf3d00 100755
--- a/scripts/package/mkspec
+++ b/scripts/package/mkspec
@@ -36,6 +36,8 @@ sed -e '/^DEL/d' -e 's/^\t*//' <<EOF
 %define ARCH ${ARCH}
 %define KERNELRELEASE ${KERNELRELEASE}
 
+# _arch is undefined if /usr/lib/rpm/platform/*/macros was not included.
+%{!?_arch: %define _arch dummy}
 %{!?make: %define make make}
 %define makeflags %{?_smp_mflags} ARCH=%{ARCH}
 
@@ -55,9 +57,6 @@ $S	BuildRequires: bc binutils bison dwarves
 $S	BuildRequires: (elfutils-libelf-devel or libelf-devel) flex
 $S	BuildRequires: gcc make openssl openssl-devel perl python3 rsync
 
-	# $UTS_MACHINE as a fallback of _arch in case
-	# /usr/lib/rpm/platform/*/macros was not included.
-	%{!?_arch: %define _arch $UTS_MACHINE}
 	%define __spec_install_post /usr/lib/rpm/brp-compress || :
 	%define debug_package %{nil}