diff --git a/abuild.in b/abuild.in
index 0807e41..8c93658 100755
--- a/abuild.in
+++ b/abuild.in
@@ -573,16 +573,14 @@ mkusers() {
 
 # helper to update config.sub to a recent version
 update_config_sub() {
-	local myver=$("$datadir"/config.sub -t | tr -d '-')
 	local changed=false
 	find . -name config.sub | while read f; do
-		local ver=$(./"$f" -t | tr -d '-')
-		if [ "$myver" -gt "$ver" ]; then
-			msg "Updating $f ($myver > $ver)"
+		if ! ./$f armv6-alpine-linux-muslgnueabihf 2>/dev/null; then
+			msg "Updating $f"
 			cp "$datadir"/${f##*/} "$f" || return 1
 			changed=true
 		else
-			msg "Not updating newer $f"
+			msg "Not new enough $f"
 		fi
 		# pipe subshell will return status of last command
 		$changed