diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 0e1435c2857..e6d78e3995c 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -1487,6 +1487,7 @@ case $host in
       test -n "$CC" || CC="gcc -m32"
       test -n "$LD" || LD="ld -m elf_i386"
       test -n "$AS" || AS="as --32"
+      host_cpu="i386"
     fi
     ;;
 esac
diff --git a/configure.ac b/configure.ac
index a1deb93d3d1..e6081e08001 100644
--- a/configure.ac
+++ b/configure.ac
@@ -49,6 +49,7 @@ case $host in
       test -n "$CC" || CC="gcc -m32"
       test -n "$LD" || LD="ld -m elf_i386"
       test -n "$AS" || AS="as --32"
+      host_cpu="i386"
     fi
     ;;
 esac