diff --git a/classes/sandbox-toolchain.yaml b/classes/sandbox-toolchain.yaml
index 429c2475..edd706b6 100644
--- a/classes/sandbox-toolchain.yaml
+++ b/classes/sandbox-toolchain.yaml
@@ -62,3 +62,4 @@ provideVars:
     # architecture is the same.
     AUTOCONF_BUILD: "${SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_BUILD}"
     AUTOCONF_HOST:  "${SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_HOST}"
+    ARCH: "${SANDBOX_ARCH:-$ARCH}"
diff --git a/classes/sandbox.yaml b/classes/sandbox.yaml
index 91f94a9c..0282d2fe 100644
--- a/classes/sandbox.yaml
+++ b/classes/sandbox.yaml
@@ -70,4 +70,7 @@ provideSandbox:
     mount:
         - "/etc/resolv.conf"
         - "/dev/pts"
+    environment:
+        AUTOCONF_HOST: "${SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_HOST:-${AUTOCONF_HOST}}"
+        AUTOCONF_BUILD: "${SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_BUILD:-${AUTOCONF_BUILD}}"
 
diff --git a/recipes/devel/bootstrap-sandbox.yaml b/recipes/devel/bootstrap-sandbox.yaml
index 2d209cb5..1b07d86a 100644
--- a/recipes/devel/bootstrap-sandbox.yaml
+++ b/recipes/devel/bootstrap-sandbox.yaml
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ depends:
     -
         name: devel::cross-toolchain
         environment:
-            AUTOCONF_TARGET: "x86_64-wendy-linux-gnu"
+            AUTOCONF_TARGET: "$(gen-autoconf,wendy)"
             ARCH: x86_64
             GCC_LIBC: glibc
             BASEMENT_OPTIMIZE: "s"
diff --git a/recipes/devel/cross-toolchain.yaml b/recipes/devel/cross-toolchain.yaml
index c30354c5..1cd1bab3 100644
--- a/recipes/devel/cross-toolchain.yaml
+++ b/recipes/devel/cross-toolchain.yaml
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ multiPackage:
     # ARMv8-A AArch64 Linux toolchain
     aarch64-linux-gnu:
         environment:
-            AUTOCONF_TARGET: "aarch64-linux-gnu"
+            AUTOCONF_TARGET: "aarch64-cross-linux-gnu"
             ARCH: "arm64"
             GCC_TARGET_ARCH: "armv8-a"
             GCC_LIBC: "glibc"
diff --git a/recipes/devel/host-compat-toolchain.yaml b/recipes/devel/host-compat-toolchain.yaml
index 2e1f3ec3..321b7458 100644
--- a/recipes/devel/host-compat-toolchain.yaml
+++ b/recipes/devel/host-compat-toolchain.yaml
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 shared: True
 
 environment:
-    AUTOCONF_TARGET: "$(gen-autoconf,bob_compat)"
+    AUTOCONF_TARGET: "${SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_TARGET:-$(gen-autoconf,bob_compat)}"
 
 depends:
     # The following tools are needed by the cross-toolchain build process.
diff --git a/recipes/devel/sandbox-toolchain.yaml b/recipes/devel/sandbox-toolchain.yaml
index 1241553a..7c2083f8 100644
--- a/recipes/devel/sandbox-toolchain.yaml
+++ b/recipes/devel/sandbox-toolchain.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 inherit: [sandbox-toolchain]
 
 privateEnvironment:
-    SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_BUILD: "$(gen-autoconf,bob)"
-    SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_HOST:  "$(gen-autoconf,bob)"
+    SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_BUILD: "${SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_BUILD:-$(gen-autoconf,bob)}"
+    SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_HOST:  "${SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_HOST:-$(gen-autoconf,bob)}"
diff --git a/recipes/devel/sandbox.yaml b/recipes/devel/sandbox.yaml
index c23dfd81..b6c3ad8d 100644
--- a/recipes/devel/sandbox.yaml
+++ b/recipes/devel/sandbox.yaml
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ depends:
     -
         name: devel::cross-toolchain
         environment:
-            AUTOCONF_TARGET: "x86_64-bob-linux-gnu"
-            ARCH: x86_64
+            AUTOCONF_TARGET: "${SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_HOST:-$(gen-autoconf,bob)}"
+            ARCH: "${SANDBOX_ARCH:-$(host-arch)}"
             GCC_LIBC: glibc
             BASEMENT_OPTIMIZE: "s"
             BASEMENT_DEBUG: "0"
@@ -90,4 +90,3 @@ depends:
       depends:
         - devel::binutils
         - devel::gcc-native
-
diff --git a/tests/cross-platform/recipes/cmake/greeter.yaml b/tests/cross-platform/recipes/cmake/greeter.yaml
index 2bf40866..7c75264d 100644
--- a/tests/cross-platform/recipes/cmake/greeter.yaml
+++ b/tests/cross-platform/recipes/cmake/greeter.yaml
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ multiPackage:
             - cmake::libgreet-dev
             - cmake::libgreet-tgt
     cross:
-        depends:
+        depends: &cross
             - if: !expr |
                 "${BOB_HOST_PLATFORM}" == "msys" || "${BOB_HOST_PLATFORM}" == "win32"
               name: devel::win::vs2019-toolchain-vc142-amd64
@@ -34,3 +34,11 @@ multiPackage:
               use: [tools]
               forward: True
             - depends: *deps
+    cross-aarch64:
+        environment:
+            # this is just an example how to use this sandbox inside a recipe
+            SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_HOST: "aarch64-bob-linux-gnu"
+            SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_BUILD: "aarch64-bob-linux-gnu"
+            SANDBOX_AUTOCONF_TARGET: "aarch64-bob_compat-linux-gnu"
+            SANDBOX_ARCH: "arm64"
+        depends: *cross