--- a/hotspot/make/linux/makefiles/defs.make	Mon Sep 24 20:04:19 2012 -0700
+++ b/hotspot/make/linux/makefiles/defs.make	Tue Sep 25 07:58:42 2012 -0400
@@ -29,8 +29,14 @@
 SLASH_JAVA ?= /java
 
 # Need PLATFORM (os-arch combo names) for jdk and hotspot, plus libarch name
-ARCH:=$(shell uname -m)
-PATH_SEP = :
+
+# ARCH can be set explicitly in spec.gmk
+ifndef ARCH
+  ARCH := $(shell uname -m)
+endif
+
+PATH_SEP ?= :
+
 ifeq ($(LP64), 1)
   ARCH_DATA_MODEL ?= 64
 else
@@ -72,8 +78,8 @@
   HS_ARCH            = sparc
 endif
 
-# x86_64
-ifeq ($(ARCH), x86_64) 
+# amd64/x86_64
+ifneq (,$(findstring $(ARCH), amd64 x86_64))
   ifeq ($(ARCH_DATA_MODEL), 64)
     ARCH_DATA_MODEL = 64
     MAKE_ARGS       += LP64=1
@@ -90,8 +96,8 @@
   endif
 endif
 
-# i686
-ifeq ($(ARCH), i686)
+# i686/i586 ie 32-bit x86
+ifneq (,$(findstring $(ARCH), i686 i586))
   ARCH_DATA_MODEL  = 32
   PLATFORM         = linux-i586
   VM_PLATFORM      = linux_i486