diff --git a/coverage.sh b/coverage.sh
index a0cccd4..ad35545 100755
--- a/coverage.sh
+++ b/coverage.sh
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ if [ ! -e shared/mmdebstrap ] || [ mmdebstrap -nt shared/mmdebstrap ]; then
 fi
 
 starttime=
-total=104
+total=105
 i=1
 
 print_header() {
@@ -856,6 +856,42 @@ else
 	echo "RUN_MA_SAME_TESTS != yes -- Skipping test..."
 fi
 
+print_header "mode=root,variant=apt: test --include=libmagic-mgc:armhf with multiple --arch options"
+cat << END > shared/test.sh
+#!/bin/sh
+set -eu
+export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
+$CMD --mode=root --variant=apt --architectures=amd64 --architectures=armhf --include=libmagic-mgc:armhf $DEFAULT_DIST /tmp/debian-chroot $mirror
+{ echo "amd64"; echo "armhf"; } | cmp /tmp/debian-chroot/var/lib/dpkg/arch -
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/var/lib/dpkg/arch
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/var/log/apt/eipp.log.xz
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/var/lib/apt/extended_states
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/var/lib/dpkg/info/libmagic-mgc.list
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/var/lib/dpkg/info/libmagic-mgc.md5sums
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/lib/file/magic.mgc
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/share/doc/libmagic-mgc/README.Debian
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/share/doc/libmagic-mgc/changelog.Debian.gz
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/share/doc/libmagic-mgc/changelog.gz
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/share/doc/libmagic-mgc/copyright
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/share/file/magic.mgc
+rm /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/share/misc/magic.mgc
+rmdir /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/share/doc/libmagic-mgc/
+rmdir /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/share/file/magic/
+rmdir /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/share/file/
+rmdir /tmp/debian-chroot/usr/lib/file/
+tar -C /tmp/debian-chroot --one-file-system -c . | tar -t | sort | diff -u tar1.txt -
+rm -r /tmp/debian-chroot
+END
+if [ "$RUN_MA_SAME_TESTS" = "yes" ]; then
+	if [ "$HAVE_QEMU" = "yes" ]; then
+		./run_qemu.sh
+	else
+		./run_null.sh SUDO
+	fi
+else
+	echo "RUN_MA_SAME_TESTS != yes -- Skipping test..."
+fi
+
 print_header "mode=root,variant=apt: test --aptopt"
 cat << END > shared/test.sh
 #!/bin/sh
diff --git a/mmdebstrap b/mmdebstrap
index 8ba3740..05ffa99 100755
--- a/mmdebstrap
+++ b/mmdebstrap
@@ -1778,10 +1778,12 @@ sub main() {
     # copy ARGV because getopt modifies it
     my @ARGVORIG = @ARGV;
 
+    chomp (my $hostarch = `dpkg --print-architecture`);
     my $options = {
 	components => ["main"],
 	variant => "important",
 	include => undef,
+	architectures => [$hostarch],
 	mode => 'auto',
 	dpkgopts => [],
 	aptopts => [],
@@ -1790,7 +1792,6 @@ sub main() {
 	essential_hook => [],
 	customize_hook => [],
     };
-    chomp ($options->{architectures} = `dpkg --print-architecture`);
     my $logfile = undef;
     Getopt::Long::Configure ('default', 'bundling', 'auto_abbrev', 'ignore_case_always');
     GetOptions(
@@ -1799,7 +1800,7 @@ sub main() {
 	'components=s@' => \$options->{components},
 	'variant=s' => \$options->{variant},
 	'include=s' => \$options->{include},
-	'architectures=s' => \$options->{architectures},
+	'architectures=s@' => \$options->{architectures},
 	'mode=s' => \$options->{mode},
 	'dpkgopt=s@' => \$options->{dpkgopts},
 	'aptopt=s@' => \$options->{aptopts},
@@ -1938,9 +1939,37 @@ sub main() {
 	error "unknown mode: $options->{mode}";
     }
 
-    my ($nativearch, @foreignarchs) = split /,/, $options->{architectures};
-    $options->{nativearch} = $nativearch;
-    $options->{foreignarchs} = \@foreignarchs;
+    my @architectures = ();
+    foreach my $archs (@{$options->{architectures}}) {
+	foreach my $arch (split /[,\s]+/, $archs) {
+	    # strip leading and trailing whitespace
+	    $arch =~ s/^\s+|\s+$//g;
+	    # skip if the remainder is an empty string
+	    if ($arch eq '') {
+		next;
+	    }
+	    # do not append component if it's already in the list
+	    if (any {$_ eq $arch} @architectures) {
+		next;
+	    }
+	    push @architectures, $arch;
+	}
+    }
+
+    $options->{nativearch} = $hostarch;
+    $options->{foreignarchs} = [];
+    if (scalar @architectures == 0) {
+	warning "empty architecture list: falling back to native architecture $hostarch";
+    } elsif (scalar @architectures == 1) {
+	$options->{nativearch} = $architectures[0];
+    } else {
+	$options->{nativearch} = $architectures[0];
+	push @{$options->{foreignarchs}}, @architectures[1..$#architectures];
+    }
+
+    debug "Native architecture (outside): $hostarch";
+    debug "Native architecture (inside): $options->{nativearch}";
+    debug ("Foreign architectures (inside): " . (join ', ', @{$options->{foreignarchs}}));
 
     {
 	# FIXME: autogenerate this list
@@ -1967,8 +1996,7 @@ sub main() {
 	    sparc => 'sparc',
 	    sparc64 => 'sparc64',
 	};
-	chomp (my $hostarch = `dpkg --print-architecture`);
-	if ($hostarch ne $nativearch) {
+	if ($hostarch ne $options->{nativearch}) {
 	    my $withemu = 0;
 	    my $noemu = 0;
 	    {
@@ -1976,17 +2004,17 @@ sub main() {
 		if ($pid == 0) {
 		    {
 			no warnings; # don't print a warning if the following fails
-			exec 'arch-test', $nativearch;
+			exec 'arch-test', $options->{nativearch};
 		    }
 		    # if exec didn't work (for example because the arch-test program is
 		    # missing) prepare for the worst and assume that the architecture
 		    # cannot be executed
-		    print "$nativearch: not supported on this machine/kernel\n";
+		    print "$options->{nativearch}: not supported on this machine/kernel\n";
 		    exit 1;
 		}
 		chomp (my $content = do { local $/; <$fh> });
 		close $fh;
-		if ($? == 0 and $content eq "$nativearch: ok") {
+		if ($? == 0 and $content eq "$options->{nativearch}: ok") {
 		    $withemu = 1;
 		}
 	    }
@@ -1995,17 +2023,17 @@ sub main() {
 		if ($pid == 0) {
 		    {
 			no warnings; # don't print a warning if the following fails
-			exec 'arch-test', '-n', $nativearch;
+			exec 'arch-test', '-n', $options->{nativearch};
 		    }
 		    # if exec didn't work (for example because the arch-test program is
 		    # missing) prepare for the worst and assume that the architecture
 		    # cannot be executed
-		    print "$nativearch: not supported on this machine/kernel\n";
+		    print "$options->{nativearch}: not supported on this machine/kernel\n";
 		    exit 1;
 		}
 		chomp (my $content = do { local $/; <$fh> });
 		close $fh;
-		if ($? == 0 and $content eq "$nativearch: ok") {
+		if ($? == 0 and $content eq "$options->{nativearch}: ok") {
 		    $noemu = 1;
 		}
 	    }
@@ -2034,10 +2062,10 @@ sub main() {
 		    close $fh;
 		}
 		{
-		    if (!exists $deb2qemu->{$nativearch}) {
-			warning "no mapping from $nativearch to qemu-user binary";
+		    if (!exists $deb2qemu->{$options->{nativearch}}) {
+			warning "no mapping from $options->{nativearch} to qemu-user binary";
 		    } else {
-			my $binfmt_identifier = 'qemu-' . $deb2qemu->{$nativearch};
+			my $binfmt_identifier = 'qemu-' . $deb2qemu->{$options->{nativearch}};
 			open my $fh, '-|', '/usr/sbin/update-binfmts', '--display', $binfmt_identifier // error "failed to fork(): $!";
 			chomp (my $binfmts = do { local $/; <$fh> });
 			close $fh;
@@ -2046,22 +2074,22 @@ sub main() {
 			}
 		    }
 		}
-		error "$nativearch can neither be executed natively nor via qemu user emulation with binfmt_misc";
+		error "$options->{nativearch} can neither be executed natively nor via qemu user emulation with binfmt_misc";
 	    } elsif ($withemu == 0 and $noemu == 1) {
 		error "arch-test succeeded without emu but not with emu";
 	    } elsif ($withemu == 1 and $noemu == 0) {
-		info "$nativearch cannot be executed, falling back to qemu-user";
-		if (!exists $deb2qemu->{$nativearch}) {
-		    error "no mapping from $nativearch to qemu-user binary";
+		info "$options->{nativearch} cannot be executed, falling back to qemu-user";
+		if (!exists $deb2qemu->{$options->{nativearch}}) {
+		    error "no mapping from $options->{nativearch} to qemu-user binary";
 		}
-		$options->{qemu} = $deb2qemu->{$nativearch};
+		$options->{qemu} = $deb2qemu->{$options->{nativearch}};
 	    } elsif ($withemu == 1 and $noemu == 1) {
-		info "$nativearch is different from $hostarch but can be executed natively";
+		info "$options->{nativearch} is different from $hostarch but can be executed natively";
 	    } else {
 		error "logic error";
 	    }
 	} else {
-	    info "chroot architecture $nativearch is equal to the host's architecture";
+	    info "chroot architecture $options->{nativearch} is equal to the host's architecture";
 	}
     }
 
@@ -2750,11 +2778,18 @@ of duplicates. So the following are equivalent:
 
 =item B<--architectures>=I<native>[,I<foreign1>,...]
 
-Comma separated list of architectures. The first architecture is the I<native>
-architecture inside the chroot. The remaining architectures will be added to
-the foreign dpkg architectures. Without this option, the I<native>
+Comma or whitespace separated list of architectures. The first architecture is
+the I<native> architecture inside the chroot. The remaining architectures will
+be added to the foreign dpkg architectures. Without this option, the I<native>
 architecture of the chroot defaults to the native architecture of the system
-running B<mmdebstrap>.
+running B<mmdebstrap>. The option can be specified multiple times and values
+are concatenated. If later list items are repeated, then they get dropped so
+that the resulting list is free of duplicates. So the following are
+equivalent:
+
+    --architectures="amd64 armhf mipsel"
+    --architectures=amd64,armhf,mipsel
+    --arch=amd64 --arch="armhf mipsel" --arch=armhf,mipsel
 
 =begin comment