diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 8d3084a72f..1d4f1e4235 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -232,7 +232,8 @@ case "$cpu" in
     cpu="sparc"
   ;;
   *)
-    cpu="unknown"
+    echo "Unsupported CPU = $cpu"
+    exit 1
   ;;
 esac
 
@@ -2068,10 +2069,6 @@ case "$cpu" in
   armv4b|armv4l)
     ARCH=arm
   ;;
-  *)
-    echo "Unsupported CPU = $cpu"
-    exit 1
-  ;;
 esac
 echo "ARCH=$ARCH" >> $config_host_mak
 if test "$debug_tcg" = "yes" ; then