diff --git a/cross/buildchroot.conf b/cross/buildchroot.conf
index 971c045..4fe7bfd 100644
--- a/cross/buildchroot.conf
+++ b/cross/buildchroot.conf
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ aptsources=Debian
 
 # this is a duplicate if the suite is the same as the toolchain.
 [Debian]
-packages=build-essential fakeroot
+packages=apt build-essential fakeroot
 source=http://ftp.uk.debian.org/debian
 keyring=debian-archive-keyring
 suite=unstable
diff --git a/multistrap b/multistrap
index 533dbf5..b69f3d4 100755
--- a/multistrap
+++ b/multistrap
@@ -301,6 +301,7 @@ foreach my $sect (sort keys %packages) {
 	my @list = split (' ', $sect);
 	foreach my $pkg (@list) {
 		next if ($packages{$pkg} =~ /^\s*$/);
+		next if (!(grep(/$sect/, @debootstrap)));
 		my @long=split (/ /, $packages{$sect});
 		foreach my $l (@long) {
 			chomp ($l);
@@ -924,6 +925,7 @@ sub dump_config {
 	print "source:  \tSources: ".join (", ", sort values %sources)."\n";
 	my @long=();
 	foreach my $sect (sort keys %packages) {
+		next if (!grep(/$sect/, @debootstrap));
 		my @list = split (' ', $sect);
 		foreach my $pkg (@list) {
 			next if ($packages{$pkg} =~ /^\s*$/);