diff --git a/debian/changelog b/debian/changelog
index 7846a5e..6aa82f7 100644
--- a/debian/changelog
+++ b/debian/changelog
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
   * Set debhelper-compat version in Build-Depends.
   * Set upstream metadata fields: Bug-Submit (from ./configure), Name
     (from ./configure).
+  * Rely on pre-initialized dpkg-architecture variables.
 
  -- Debian Janitor <janitor@jelmer.uk>  Mon, 27 Apr 2020 03:58:22 +0000
 
diff --git a/debian/rules b/debian/rules
index e4ebdbc..114e09c 100755
--- a/debian/rules
+++ b/debian/rules
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 # needed for correct building of new texinfo
 DEB_CFLAGS_MAINT_STRIP=-Werror=format-security
 
-DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE?=$(shell dpkg-architecture -qDEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)
+include /usr/share/dpkg/architecture.mk
 
 include /usr/share/dpkg/buildflags.mk
 export CPPFLAGS CFLAGS LDFLAGS