diff --git a/abuild.in b/abuild.in
index c01c9bf..fa85f59 100755
--- a/abuild.in
+++ b/abuild.in
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ die() {
 
 # check if apkbuild is basicly sane
 sanitycheck() {
-	local i
+	local i suggestion
 	msg "Checking sanity of $APKBUILD..."
 	[ -z "$pkgname" ] && die "Missing pkgname in APKBUILD"
 	[ -z "${pkgname##* *}" ] && die "pkgname contains spaces"
@@ -108,6 +108,16 @@ sanitycheck() {
 	[ -z "$url" ] && die "Missing url in APKBUILD"
 	[ -z "$license" ] && die "Missing license in APKBULID"
 
+	# check if CARCH, CBUILD, CHOST and CTARGET is set
+	if [ -z "$CARCH" ]; then
+		case "$(uname -m)" in
+		i[0-9]86) suggestion=" (Suggestion: CARCH=x86)";;
+		x86_64) suggestion=" (Suggestion: CARCH=x86_64)";;
+		esac
+		die "Please set CARCH in /etc/abuild.conf$suggestion"
+	fi
+	[ -z "$CHOST" ] && die "Please set CHOST in /etc/abuild.conf"
+
 	for i in $install; do
 		[ -e "$startdir/$i" ] || die "install script $startdir/$i is missing"
 	done