diff --git a/automation/test-linux.sh b/automation/test-linux.sh
index 2176bdfa..ccf8d74e 100755
--- a/automation/test-linux.sh
+++ b/automation/test-linux.sh
@@ -7,11 +7,6 @@ namespace="kubevirt"
 ocenv="OC"
 k8senv="K8s"
 
-if [ "$TARGET" == "centos6" ] && [ "$(uname -m)" == "s390x" ]; then
-  echo "CentOS 6 does not support s390x."
-  exit 1
-fi
-
 containerdisks_url="docker://quay.io/containerdisks"
 legacy_common_templates_disk_url="docker://quay.io/kubevirt/common-templates"
 cnv_common_templates_url="docker://quay.io/openshift-cnv/ci-common-templates-images"
diff --git a/generate-templates.yaml b/generate-templates.yaml
index 55f92bd0..76480bc2 100644
--- a/generate-templates.yaml
+++ b/generate-templates.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,13 @@
   hosts: 127.0.0.1
   gather_facts: yes
   tasks:
+  - name: Ensure target_arch is defined
+    assert:
+      that: 
+        - target_arch is defined
+        - target_arch in ['x86_64', 's390x']
+      fail_msg: "Please define the target architecture as either 'x86_64' or 's390x'."
+
   - name: Prepare dist directory
     file:
       path: "{{ playbook_dir }}/dist/templates"
@@ -145,7 +152,7 @@
   - name: Load CentOS 6 versions
     set_fact:
       centos6_labels: "{{ lookup('osinfo', 'distro=centos') |map(attribute='short_id') |select('match', '^centos6\\.') |list |sort }}"
-    when: ansible_architecture != "s390x"
+    when: target_arch != "s390x"
 
   - name: Generate CentOS 6 templates
     template:
@@ -163,7 +170,7 @@
       oslabels: "{{ centos6_labels }}"
       osinfoname: "{{ oslabels[0] }}"
       cloudusername: centos
-    when: ansible_architecture != "s390x"
+    when: target_arch != "s390x"
 
   - name: Load Fedora versions
     set_fact:
@@ -171,8 +178,8 @@
 
   - name: Load Fedora containerdisk and image urls
     set_fact:
-      fedora_containerdisk_urls: "{{ fedora_containerdisk_urls |default([]) + lookup('osinfo', item) |attr('image_list') |selectattr('architecture', 'eq', ansible_architecture) |selectattr('format', 'eq', 'containerdisk') |map(attribute='url') |map('replace', 'docker://', '') |list }}"
-      fedora_image_urls: "{{ fedora_image_urls |default([]) + lookup('osinfo', item) |attr('image_list') |selectattr('architecture', 'eq', ansible_architecture) |selectattr('format', 'in', ['raw', 'qcow2']) |map(attribute='url') |list }}"
+      fedora_containerdisk_urls: "{{ fedora_containerdisk_urls |default([]) + lookup('osinfo', item) |attr('image_list') |selectattr('architecture', 'eq', target_arch) |selectattr('format', 'eq', 'containerdisk') |map(attribute='url') |map('replace', 'docker://', '') |list }}"
+      fedora_image_urls: "{{ fedora_image_urls |default([]) + lookup('osinfo', item) |attr('image_list') |selectattr('architecture', 'eq', target_arch) |selectattr('format', 'in', ['raw', 'qcow2']) |map(attribute='url') |list }}"
     loop: "{{ fedora_labels }}"
 
   - name: Generate Fedora templates
diff --git a/makefile b/makefile
index 8acb7783..01c41be6 100644
--- a/makefile
+++ b/makefile
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@ ALL_META_TEMPLATES=$(wildcard templates/*.yaml)
 ALL_PRESETS=$(wildcard presets/*.yaml)
 METASOURCES=$(ALL_META_TEMPLATES) $(ALL_PRESETS)
 
+# target architecture
+TARGET_ARCH?=x86_64
+
 # Make sure the version is defined
 export VERSION=$(shell ./version.sh)
 export REVISION=$(shell ./revision.sh)
@@ -41,7 +44,7 @@ validate-no-offensive-lang:
 generate: generate-templates.yaml $(METASOURCES)
 	# Just build the XML files, no need to export to tarball
 	make -C osinfo-db/ OSINFO_DB_EXPORT=echo
-	ansible-playbook generate-templates.yaml
+	ansible-playbook generate-templates.yaml -e "target_arch=$(TARGET_ARCH)"
 
 update-osinfo-db:
 	git submodule init
diff --git a/templates/fedora.tpl.yaml b/templates/fedora.tpl.yaml
index 48eea32a..06c469e4 100644
--- a/templates/fedora.tpl.yaml
+++ b/templates/fedora.tpl.yaml
@@ -95,9 +95,9 @@ objects:
           kubevirt.io/domain: ${NAME}
           kubevirt.io/size: {{ item.flavor }}
       spec:
-        architecture: "{{ 'amd64' if ansible_architecture == 'x86_64' else ansible_architecture }}"
+        architecture: "{{ 'amd64' if target_arch == 'x86_64' else target_arch }}"
         domain:
-{% if ansible_architecture != 's390x' %}
+{% if target_arch != 's390x' %}
           features:
             smm:
               enabled: true