diff --git a/coverage.txt b/coverage.txt
index 381968a..7f4ea93 100644
--- a/coverage.txt
+++ b/coverage.txt
@@ -375,10 +375,10 @@ Skip-If:
 Test: install-busybox-based-sub-essential-system
 Needs-Root: true
 
-Test: create-arm64-tarball
+Test: create-foreign-tarball
 Modes: root unshare fakechroot
 Skip-If:
- hostarch != "amd64"
+ hostarch not in ["amd64", "arm64"]
  mode == "fakechroot" and not run_ma_same_tests
  not have_binfmt
 
diff --git a/tests/create-arm64-tarball b/tests/create-arm64-tarball
deleted file mode 100644
index 367948f..0000000
--- a/tests/create-arm64-tarball
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,65 +0,0 @@
-#!/bin/sh
-set -eu
-export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
-
-prefix=
-if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ] && [ "{{ MODE }}" != "root" ] && [ "{{ MODE }}" != "auto" ]; then
-	if ! id "${SUDO_USER:-user}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
-		if [ ! -e /mmdebstrap-testenv ]; then
-			echo "this test modifies the system and should only be run inside a container" >&2
-			exit 1
-		fi
-		useradd --home-dir "/home/${SUDO_USER:-user}" --create-home "${SUDO_USER:-user}"
-	fi
-	prefix="runuser -u ${SUDO_USER:-user} --"
-fi
-
-[ "{{ MODE }}" = "fakechroot" ] && prefix="$prefix fakechroot fakeroot"
-$prefix {{ CMD }} --mode={{ MODE }} --variant=apt --architectures=arm64 {{ DIST }} /tmp/debian-chroot.tar {{ MIRROR }}
-# we ignore differences between architectures by ignoring some files
-# and renaming others
-{ tar -tf /tmp/debian-chroot.tar \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/ld-linux-aarch64\.so\.1$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/ld-linux-aarch64\.so\.1$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm-generic/int-ll64\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm-generic/types\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm-generic/unistd\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm/sigcontext\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm/sve_context\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm/types\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/bits/procfs-extra\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/bits/procfs-id\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/bits/procfs-prregset\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/bits/procfs\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/gnu/stubs-lp64\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/linux/types\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/sys/procfs\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/aarch64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/sys/user\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/share/doc/[^/]\+/changelog\(\.Debian\)\?\.arm64\.gz$' \
-	| sed 's/aarch64-linux-gnu/x86_64-linux-gnu/' \
-	| sed 's/arm64/amd64/';
-} | sort > tar2.txt
-{ < tar1.txt \
-	grep -v '^\./usr/bin/i386$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/bin/x86_64$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./lib32$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./lib64$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./libx32$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib32/$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/libx32/$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib64/$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64\.so\.2$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/ld-linux-x86-64\.so\.2$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/libmvec\.so\.1$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm/posix_types_32\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm/posix_types_64\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm/posix_types_x32\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm/unistd_32\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm/unistd_64\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/asm/unistd_x32\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/perl/5\.[0-9]\+\.0/gnu/stubs-64\.ph$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/share/doc/[^/]\+/changelog\(\.Debian\)\?\.amd64\.gz$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/share/man/man8/i386\.8\.gz$' \
-	| grep -v '^\./usr/share/man/man8/x86_64\.8\.gz$';
-} | sort | diff -u - tar2.txt >&2
-rm /tmp/debian-chroot.tar
diff --git a/tests/create-foreign-tarball b/tests/create-foreign-tarball
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bf8f13a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/create-foreign-tarball
@@ -0,0 +1,77 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
+
+prefix=
+if [ "$(id -u)" -eq 0 ] && [ "{{ MODE }}" != "root" ] && [ "{{ MODE }}" != "auto" ]; then
+	if ! id "${SUDO_USER:-user}" >/dev/null 2>&1; then
+		if [ ! -e /mmdebstrap-testenv ]; then
+			echo "this test modifies the system and should only be run inside a container" >&2
+			exit 1
+		fi
+		useradd --home-dir "/home/${SUDO_USER:-user}" --create-home "${SUDO_USER:-user}"
+	fi
+	prefix="runuser -u ${SUDO_USER:-user} --"
+fi
+
+case "$(dpkg --print-architecture)" in
+	arm64)
+		native_arch=arm64
+		native_gnu=aarch64-linux-gnu
+		foreign_arch=amd64
+		foreign_gnu=x86_64-linux-gnu
+		;;
+	amd64)
+		native_arch=amd64
+		native_gnu=x86_64-linux-gnu
+		foreign_arch=arm64
+		foreign_gnu=aarch64-linux-gnu
+		;;
+	*)
+		echo "unsupported native architecture" >&2
+		exit 1
+		;;
+esac
+
+[ "{{ MODE }}" = "fakechroot" ] && prefix="$prefix fakechroot fakeroot"
+$prefix {{ CMD }} --mode={{ MODE }} --variant=apt --architectures="$foreign_arch" \
+	{{ DIST }} /tmp/debian-chroot.tar {{ MIRROR }}
+# we ignore differences between architectures by ignoring some files
+# and renaming others
+{ tar -tf /tmp/debian-chroot.tar \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/bin/i386$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/bin/x86_64$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./lib64$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib64/$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64\.so\.2$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/ld-linux-aarch64\.so\.1$' \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/lib/$foreign_gnu/ld-linux-aarch64\\.so\\.1$" \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/lib/$foreign_gnu/ld-linux-x86-64\\.so\\.2$" \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/lib/$foreign_gnu/perl/5\\.[0-9][.0-9]\\+/.*\\.ph$" \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/lib/$foreign_gnu/libmvec\\.so\\.1$" \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/share/doc/[^/]\\+/changelog\\(\\.Debian\\)\\?\\.$foreign_arch\\.gz$" \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/share/man/man8/i386\.8\.gz$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/share/man/man8/x86_64\.8\.gz$' \
+	| sed "s/$foreign_gnu/$native_gnu/" \
+	| sed "s/$foreign_arch/$native_arch/";
+} | sort > /tmp/tar2.txt
+{ < tar1.txt \
+	grep -v '^\./usr/bin/i386$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/bin/x86_64$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./lib32$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./lib64$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./libx32$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib32/$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/libx32/$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib64/$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib64/ld-linux-x86-64\.so\.2$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/lib/ld-linux-aarch64\.so\.1$' \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/lib/$native_gnu/ld-linux-x86-64\\.so\\.2$" \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/lib/$native_gnu/ld-linux-aarch64\\.so\\.1$" \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/lib/$native_gnu/libmvec\\.so\\.1$" \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/lib/$native_gnu/perl/5\\.[0-9][.0-9]\\+/.*\\.ph$" \
+	| grep -v "^\\./usr/share/doc/[^/]\\+/changelog\\(\\.Debian\\)\\?\\.$native_arch\\.gz$" \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/share/man/man8/i386\.8\.gz$' \
+	| grep -v '^\./usr/share/man/man8/x86_64\.8\.gz$';
+} | sort | diff -u - /tmp/tar2.txt >&2
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot.tar /tmp/tar2.txt