diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 7bd4de9..388f3c8 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -348,6 +348,13 @@
 $(call mark_unsupported,CONFIG_INTERNAL)
 endif
 
+# Try linux_mtd as internal programmer on all but x86
+ifeq ($(ARCH), x86)
+FEATURE_FLAGS += -D'LINUX_MTD_AS_INTERNAL=0'
+else
+FEATURE_FLAGS += -D'LINUX_MTD_AS_INTERNAL=1'
+endif
+
 ifeq ($(HAS_SERIAL), no)
 $(call mark_unsupported, $(DEPENDS_ON_SERIAL))
 endif
diff --git a/include/programmer.h b/include/programmer.h
index 6798851..a4e2be6 100644
--- a/include/programmer.h
+++ b/include/programmer.h
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@
 void probe_superio_ite(void);
 int init_superio_ite(void);
 
-#if CONFIG_LINUX_MTD == 1
+#if CONFIG_LINUX_MTD == 1 && LINUX_MTD_AS_INTERNAL == 1
 /* trivial wrapper to avoid cluttering internal_init() with #if */
 static inline int try_mtd(void) { return programmer_linux_mtd.init(); };
 #else
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index 81b3b8b..a77c5a1 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -278,6 +278,7 @@
     'flags' : [
       '-DCONFIG_INTERNAL=1',
       '-DCONFIG_INTERNAL_DMI=' + (get_option('use_internal_dmi') ? '1' : '0'),
+      '-DLINUX_MTD_AS_INTERNAL=' + (host_machine.cpu_family() in ['x86', 'x86_64'] ? '0' : '1'),
     ]
   },
   'it8212' : {