diff --git a/gdbstub.c b/gdbstub.c
index 1a84c1a746..59d16506c5 100644
--- a/gdbstub.c
+++ b/gdbstub.c
@@ -540,13 +540,20 @@ static const char *get_feature_xml(const char *p, const char **newp,
             GDBRegisterState *r;
             CPUState *cpu = first_cpu;
 
-            snprintf(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml),
-                     "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>"
-                     "<!DOCTYPE target SYSTEM \"gdb-target.dtd\">"
-                     "<target>"
-                     "<xi:include href=\"%s\"/>",
-                     cc->gdb_core_xml_file);
-
+            pstrcat(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml),
+                    "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>"
+                    "<!DOCTYPE target SYSTEM \"gdb-target.dtd\">"
+                    "<target>");
+            if (cc->gdb_arch_name) {
+                gchar *arch = cc->gdb_arch_name(cpu);
+                pstrcat(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml), "<architecture>");
+                pstrcat(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml), arch);
+                pstrcat(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml), "</architecture>");
+                g_free(arch);
+            }
+            pstrcat(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml), "<xi:include href=\"");
+            pstrcat(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml), cc->gdb_core_xml_file);
+            pstrcat(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml), "\"/>");
             for (r = cpu->gdb_regs; r; r = r->next) {
                 pstrcat(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml), "<xi:include href=\"");
                 pstrcat(target_xml, sizeof(target_xml), r->xml);
diff --git a/include/qom/cpu.h b/include/qom/cpu.h
index 2e5229d280..035179c09c 100644
--- a/include/qom/cpu.h
+++ b/include/qom/cpu.h
@@ -120,6 +120,8 @@ struct TranslationBlock;
  * @gdb_core_xml_file: File name for core registers GDB XML description.
  * @gdb_stop_before_watchpoint: Indicates whether GDB expects the CPU to stop
  *           before the insn which triggers a watchpoint rather than after it.
+ * @gdb_arch_name: Optional callback that returns the architecture name known
+ * to GDB. The caller must free the returned string with g_free.
  * @cpu_exec_enter: Callback for cpu_exec preparation.
  * @cpu_exec_exit: Callback for cpu_exec cleanup.
  * @cpu_exec_interrupt: Callback for processing interrupts in cpu_exec.
@@ -177,6 +179,7 @@ typedef struct CPUClass {
     const struct VMStateDescription *vmsd;
     int gdb_num_core_regs;
     const char *gdb_core_xml_file;
+    gchar * (*gdb_arch_name)(CPUState *cpu);
     bool gdb_stop_before_watchpoint;
 
     void (*cpu_exec_enter)(CPUState *cpu);
diff --git a/target-arm/cpu.c b/target-arm/cpu.c
index 6c34476a3d..0e582c4410 100644
--- a/target-arm/cpu.c
+++ b/target-arm/cpu.c
@@ -1426,6 +1426,17 @@ static int arm_cpu_handle_mmu_fault(CPUState *cs, vaddr address, int rw,
 }
 #endif
 
+static gchar *arm_gdb_arch_name(CPUState *cs)
+{
+    ARMCPU *cpu = ARM_CPU(cs);
+    CPUARMState *env = &cpu->env;
+
+    if (arm_feature(env, ARM_FEATURE_IWMMXT)) {
+        return g_strdup("iwmmxt");
+    }
+    return g_strdup("arm");
+}
+
 static void arm_cpu_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
     ARMCPUClass *acc = ARM_CPU_CLASS(oc);
@@ -1460,6 +1471,7 @@ static void arm_cpu_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 #endif
     cc->gdb_num_core_regs = 26;
     cc->gdb_core_xml_file = "arm-core.xml";
+    cc->gdb_arch_name = arm_gdb_arch_name;
     cc->gdb_stop_before_watchpoint = true;
     cc->debug_excp_handler = arm_debug_excp_handler;
 
diff --git a/target-arm/cpu64.c b/target-arm/cpu64.c
index cc177bb9f6..c847513b25 100644
--- a/target-arm/cpu64.c
+++ b/target-arm/cpu64.c
@@ -287,6 +287,11 @@ static void aarch64_cpu_set_pc(CPUState *cs, vaddr value)
     }
 }
 
+static gchar *aarch64_gdb_arch_name(CPUState *cs)
+{
+    return g_strdup("aarch64");
+}
+
 static void aarch64_cpu_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
     CPUClass *cc = CPU_CLASS(oc);
@@ -297,6 +302,7 @@ static void aarch64_cpu_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     cc->gdb_write_register = aarch64_cpu_gdb_write_register;
     cc->gdb_num_core_regs = 34;
     cc->gdb_core_xml_file = "aarch64-core.xml";
+    cc->gdb_arch_name = aarch64_gdb_arch_name;
 }
 
 static void aarch64_cpu_register(const ARMCPUInfo *info)
diff --git a/target-ppc/translate_init.c b/target-ppc/translate_init.c
index 4ab2d927b0..d7e1a4e1c8 100644
--- a/target-ppc/translate_init.c
+++ b/target-ppc/translate_init.c
@@ -9681,6 +9681,15 @@ static bool ppc_pvr_match_default(PowerPCCPUClass *pcc, uint32_t pvr)
     return pcc->pvr == pvr;
 }
 
+static gchar *ppc_gdb_arch_name(CPUState *cs)
+{
+#if defined(TARGET_PPC64)
+    return g_strdup("powerpc:common64");
+#else
+    return g_strdup("powerpc:common");
+#endif
+}
+
 static void ppc_cpu_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
     PowerPCCPUClass *pcc = POWERPC_CPU_CLASS(oc);
@@ -9724,6 +9733,7 @@ static void ppc_cpu_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
     cc->gdb_num_core_regs = 71 + 32;
 #endif
 
+    cc->gdb_arch_name = ppc_gdb_arch_name;
 #if defined(TARGET_PPC64)
     cc->gdb_core_xml_file = "power64-core.xml";
 #else
diff --git a/target-s390x/cpu.c b/target-s390x/cpu.c
index e5a3f65029..792310e50d 100644
--- a/target-s390x/cpu.c
+++ b/target-s390x/cpu.c
@@ -325,6 +325,11 @@ unsigned int s390_cpu_set_state(uint8_t cpu_state, S390CPU *cpu)
 }
 #endif
 
+static gchar *s390_gdb_arch_name(CPUState *cs)
+{
+    return g_strdup("s390:64-bit");
+}
+
 static void s390_cpu_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 {
     S390CPUClass *scc = S390_CPU_CLASS(oc);
@@ -360,6 +365,7 @@ static void s390_cpu_class_init(ObjectClass *oc, void *data)
 
     cc->gdb_num_core_regs = S390_NUM_CORE_REGS;
     cc->gdb_core_xml_file = "s390x-core64.xml";
+    cc->gdb_arch_name = s390_gdb_arch_name;
 
     /*
      * Reason: s390_cpu_initfn() calls cpu_exec_init(), which saves