diff --git a/pmb/aportgen/__init__.py b/pmb/aportgen/__init__.py
index ac885c9a..778fefcd 100644
--- a/pmb/aportgen/__init__.py
+++ b/pmb/aportgen/__init__.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Copyright 2023 Oliver Smith
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
 import os
+from pmb.core.arch import Arch
 from pmb.core.context import get_context
 from pmb.core.pkgrepo import pkgrepo_default_path
 from pmb.helpers import logging
@@ -16,13 +17,17 @@ from pmb.types import PmbArgs
 import pmb.helpers.cli
 
 
-def get_cross_package_arches(pkgname):
+def get_cross_package_arches(pkgname: str) -> str:
     """
     Get the arches for which we want to build cross packages.
 
     :param pkgname: package name, e.g. "gcc-aarch64", "gcc-x86_64"
 
-    :returns: string of architecture(s) (space separated)
+    :returns: string of architecture(s) (space separated). It doesn't
+    necessarily make sense to use Arch here given that this value gets
+    used to write APKBUILD files, where the ``arch`` field can have values
+    that aren't necessarily valid arches like "!armhf", "noarch", or
+    "x86 x86_64".
 
     """
     if pkgname.endswith("-x86_64"):
diff --git a/pmb/aportgen/busybox_static.py b/pmb/aportgen/busybox_static.py
index 3cbefcf5..36c9a2b1 100644
--- a/pmb/aportgen/busybox_static.py
+++ b/pmb/aportgen/busybox_static.py
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@ import pmb.chroot.apk_static
 import pmb.helpers.run
 import pmb.parse.apkindex
 from pmb.core import Chroot
+from pmb.core.arch import Arch
 from pmb.core.context import get_context
 
 
 def generate(pkgname: str) -> None:
-    arch = pkgname.split("-")[2]
+    arch = Arch.from_str(pkgname.split("-")[2])
     context = get_context()
 
     # Parse version from APKINDEX
diff --git a/pmb/aportgen/core.py b/pmb/aportgen/core.py
index 338c178f..1a829f0a 100644
--- a/pmb/aportgen/core.py
+++ b/pmb/aportgen/core.py
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@ import re
 import pmb.helpers.git
 import pmb.helpers.run
 import pmb.helpers.args
+from pmb.core.arch import Arch
 from pmb.core.context import get_context
 
 
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ def rewrite(
         handle.truncate()
 
 
-def get_upstream_aport(pkgname: str, arch=None):
+def get_upstream_aport(pkgname: str, arch: Arch | None = None):
     """
     Perform a git checkout of Alpine's aports and get the path to the aport.
 
diff --git a/pmb/aportgen/gcc.py b/pmb/aportgen/gcc.py
index ae692840..3d8cb6bd 100644
--- a/pmb/aportgen/gcc.py
+++ b/pmb/aportgen/gcc.py
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 # Copyright 2023 Oliver Smith
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-3.0-or-later
 import pmb.aportgen.core
+from pmb.core.arch import Arch
 from pmb.core.context import get_context
 from pmb.core.pkgrepo import pkgrepo_default_path
 import pmb.helpers.git
@@ -10,7 +11,7 @@ import pmb.helpers.run
 def generate(pkgname: str):
     # Copy original aport
     prefix = pkgname.split("-")[0]
-    arch = pkgname.split("-")[1]
+    arch = Arch.from_str(pkgname.split("-")[1])
     context = get_context()
     if prefix == "gcc":
         upstream = pmb.aportgen.core.get_upstream_aport("gcc", arch)
@@ -51,7 +52,7 @@ def generate(pkgname: str):
 
     below_header = (
         "CTARGET_ARCH="
-        + arch
+        + str(arch)
         + """
         CTARGET="$(arch_to_hostspec ${CTARGET_ARCH})"
         LANG_D=false
diff --git a/pmb/aportgen/grub_efi.py b/pmb/aportgen/grub_efi.py
index 84e98c57..54bd2b89 100644
--- a/pmb/aportgen/grub_efi.py
+++ b/pmb/aportgen/grub_efi.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ from pmb.core.context import get_context
 
 
 def generate(pkgname):
-    arch = "x86"
+    arch = Arch.x86
     if pkgname != "grub-efi-x86":
         raise RuntimeError("only grub-efi-x86 is available")
     package_data = pmb.parse.apkindex.package("grub")
diff --git a/pmb/aportgen/musl.py b/pmb/aportgen/musl.py
index 1a17a85b..40aea20c 100644
--- a/pmb/aportgen/musl.py
+++ b/pmb/aportgen/musl.py
@@ -8,11 +8,12 @@ import pmb.chroot.apk_static
 import pmb.helpers.run
 import pmb.parse.apkindex
 from pmb.core import Chroot
+from pmb.core.arch import Arch
 from pmb.core.context import get_context
 
 
-def generate(pkgname):
-    arch = pkgname.split("-")[1]
+def generate(pkgname: str) -> None:
+    arch = Arch.from_str(pkgname.split("-")[1])
 
     # Parse musl version from APKINDEX
     package_data = pmb.parse.apkindex.package("musl")