diff --git a/cmd/cue/cmd/help.go b/cmd/cue/cmd/help.go
index f9138de0639..88b699c5115 100644
--- a/cmd/cue/cmd/help.go
+++ b/cmd/cue/cmd/help.go
@@ -351,6 +351,13 @@ The following variables are supported:
                 freebsd   illumos   ios       js (wasm)
                 linux     netbsd    openbsd   plan9
                 solaris   windows
+   arch       architecture identifier of the current system. Valid values:
+                386        amd64        amd64p32  arm
+                armbe      arm64        arm64be   loong64
+                mips       mipsle       mips64    mips64le
+                mips64p32  mips64p32le  ppc       ppc64
+                ppc64le    riscv        riscv64   s390
+                s390x      sparc        sparc64   wasm
    cwd        working directory
    username   current username
    hostname   current hostname
diff --git a/cue/load/tags.go b/cue/load/tags.go
index 7e54a8d86e5..1f399ab5bbc 100644
--- a/cue/load/tags.go
+++ b/cue/load/tags.go
@@ -72,6 +72,11 @@ func DefaultTagVars() map[string]TagVar {
 				return ast.NewString(runtime.GOOS), nil
 			},
 		},
+		"arch": {
+			Func: func() (ast.Expr, error) {
+				return ast.NewString(runtime.GOARCH), nil
+			},
+		},
 		"cwd": {
 			Func: func() (ast.Expr, error) {
 				return varToString(os.Getwd())