diff --git a/lib/systems/default.nix b/lib/systems/default.nix
index 1bbe976c4d2..1e38dbf531b 100644
--- a/lib/systems/default.nix
+++ b/lib/systems/default.nix
@@ -107,6 +107,11 @@ rec {
           powerpc64le = "ppc64le";
         }.${final.parsed.cpu.name} or final.parsed.cpu.name;
 
+      darwinArch = {
+        armv7a  = "armv7";
+        aarch64 = "arm64";
+      }.${final.parsed.cpu.name} or final.parsed.cpu.name;
+
       emulator = pkgs: let
         qemu-user = pkgs.qemu.override {
           smartcardSupport = false;
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/bintools-wrapper/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/bintools-wrapper/default.nix
index 8fef2ca6624..c255f43dfcd 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/bintools-wrapper/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/bintools-wrapper/default.nix
@@ -305,6 +305,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
       done
     ''
 
+    + optionalString stdenv.targetPlatform.isDarwin ''
+      echo "-arch ${targetPlatform.darwinArch}" >> $out/nix-support/libc-ldflags
+    ''
+
     + ''
       for flags in "$out/nix-support"/*flags*; do
         substituteInPlace "$flags" --replace $'\n' ' '
diff --git a/pkgs/build-support/cc-wrapper/default.nix b/pkgs/build-support/cc-wrapper/default.nix
index c8af8789fcc..06e43b6ea5f 100644
--- a/pkgs/build-support/cc-wrapper/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/build-support/cc-wrapper/default.nix
@@ -481,6 +481,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
       substituteAll ${../wrapper-common/utils.bash} $out/nix-support/utils.bash
     ''
 
+    + optionalString stdenv.targetPlatform.isDarwin ''
+      echo "-arch ${targetPlatform.darwinArch}" >> $out/nix-support/cc-cflags
+    ''
+
     ##
     ## Extra custom steps
     ##
diff --git a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cmake/setup-hook.sh b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cmake/setup-hook.sh
index 0bb695615fc..89e8e0e197a 100755
--- a/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cmake/setup-hook.sh
+++ b/pkgs/development/tools/build-managers/cmake/setup-hook.sh
@@ -50,9 +50,6 @@ cmakeConfigurePhase() {
     # because we usually do not package the framework
     cmakeFlags="-DCMAKE_FIND_FRAMEWORK=LAST $cmakeFlags"
 
-    # on macOS i686 was only relevant for 10.5 or earlier.
-    cmakeFlags="-DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=x86_64 $cmakeFlags"
-
     # we never want to use the global macOS SDK
     cmakeFlags="-DCMAKE_OSX_SYSROOT= $cmakeFlags"
 
diff --git a/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/xcode/sdk-pkgs.nix b/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/xcode/sdk-pkgs.nix
index 16ed52ea81e..cabac19ba86 100644
--- a/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/xcode/sdk-pkgs.nix
+++ b/pkgs/os-specific/darwin/xcode/sdk-pkgs.nix
@@ -14,12 +14,6 @@ let
 
 minSdkVersion = targetPlatform.minSdkVersion or "9.0";
 
-iosPlatformArch = { parsed, ... }: {
-  armv7a  = "armv7";
-  aarch64 = "arm64";
-  x86_64  = "x86_64";
-}.${parsed.cpu.name};
-
 in
 
 rec {
@@ -35,9 +29,7 @@ rec {
   binutils = wrapBintoolsWith {
     libc = targetIosSdkPkgs.libraries;
     bintools = binutils-unwrapped;
-    extraBuildCommands = ''
-      echo "-arch ${iosPlatformArch targetPlatform}" >> $out/nix-support/libc-ldflags
-    '' + lib.optionalString (sdk.platform == "iPhoneSimulator") ''
+    extraBuildCommands = lib.optionalString (sdk.platform == "iPhoneSimulator") ''
       echo "-platform_version ios-sim ${minSdkVersion} ${sdk.version}" >> $out/nix-support/libc-ldflags
     '' + lib.optionalString (sdk.platform == "iPhoneOS") ''
       echo "-platform_version ios ${minSdkVersion} ${sdk.version}" >> $out/nix-support/libc-ldflags
@@ -52,7 +44,7 @@ rec {
     extraBuildCommands = ''
       tr '\n' ' ' < $out/nix-support/cc-cflags > cc-cflags.tmp
       mv cc-cflags.tmp $out/nix-support/cc-cflags
-      echo "-target ${targetPlatform.config} -arch ${iosPlatformArch targetPlatform}" >> $out/nix-support/cc-cflags
+      echo "-target ${targetPlatform.config}" >> $out/nix-support/cc-cflags
       echo "-isystem ${sdk}/usr/include${lib.optionalString (lib.versionAtLeast "10" sdk.version) " -isystem ${sdk}/usr/include/c++/4.2.1/ -stdlib=libstdc++"}" >> $out/nix-support/cc-cflags
     '' + lib.optionalString (sdk.platform == "iPhoneSimulator") ''
       echo "-mios-simulator-version-min=${minSdkVersion}" >> $out/nix-support/cc-cflags
diff --git a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix
index 13a7a03d6a8..19c3d8965a7 100644
--- a/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix
+++ b/pkgs/stdenv/generic/make-derivation.nix
@@ -251,6 +251,7 @@ in rec {
                lib.optional (!stdenv.hostPlatform.isRedox) stdenv.hostPlatform.uname.system)}"]
           ++ lib.optional (stdenv.hostPlatform.uname.processor != null) "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR=${stdenv.hostPlatform.uname.processor}"
           ++ lib.optional (stdenv.hostPlatform.uname.release != null) "-DCMAKE_SYSTEM_VERSION=${stdenv.hostPlatform.release}"
+          ++ lib.optional (stdenv.hostPlatform.isDarwin) "-DCMAKE_OSX_ARCHITECTURES=${stdenv.hostPlatform.darwinArch}"
           ++ lib.optional (stdenv.buildPlatform.uname.system != null) "-DCMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_NAME=${stdenv.buildPlatform.uname.system}"
           ++ lib.optional (stdenv.buildPlatform.uname.processor != null) "-DCMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_PROCESSOR=${stdenv.buildPlatform.uname.processor}"
           ++ lib.optional (stdenv.buildPlatform.uname.release != null) "-DCMAKE_HOST_SYSTEM_VERSION=${stdenv.buildPlatform.uname.release}";