diff --git a/mmdebstrap b/mmdebstrap
index 989af62..2a3f50e 100755
--- a/mmdebstrap
+++ b/mmdebstrap
@@ -3234,7 +3234,9 @@ sub main() {
             sparc    => 'sparc',
             sparc64  => 'sparc64',
         };
-        if ($options->{mode} eq "chrootless") {
+        if (any { $_ eq 'check/qemu' } @{ $options->{skip} }) {
+            info "skipping check/qemu as requested";
+        } elsif ($options->{mode} eq "chrootless") {
             info "skipping emulation check in chrootless mode";
         } elsif ($hostarch ne $options->{nativearch}) {
             if (system('arch-test --version>/dev/null') != 0) {