diff --git a/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/CMakeLists.txt b/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/CMakeLists.txt
index 369905750754f..8710ddb0b83d8 100644
--- a/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/ggml/src/ggml-cpu/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -126,25 +126,36 @@ function(ggml_add_cpu_backend_variant_impl tag_name)
                 )
                 if (NOT ARM_MCPU_RESULT)
                     string(REGEX MATCH "-mcpu=[^ ']+" ARM_MCPU_FLAG "${ARM_MCPU}")
+                    string(REGEX MATCH "-march=[^ ']+" ARM_MARCH_FLAG "${ARM_MCPU}")
+
+                    # on some old GCC we need to read -march=
+                    if (ARM_MARCH_FLAG AND NOT "${ARM_MARCH_FLAG}" STREQUAL "-march=native")
+                        set(ARM_NATIVE_FLAG "${ARM_MARCH_FLAG}")
+                    elseif(ARM_MCPU_FLAG AND NOT "${ARM_MCPU_FLAG}" STREQUAL "-mcpu=native")
+                        set(ARM_NATIVE_FLAG "${ARM_MCPU_FLAG}")
+                    endif()
                 endif()
-                if ("${ARM_MCPU_FLAG}" STREQUAL "")
-                    set(ARM_MCPU_FLAG -mcpu=native)
-                    message(STATUS "ARM -mcpu not found, -mcpu=native will be used")
+
+                if ("${ARM_NATIVE_FLAG}" STREQUAL "")
+                    set(ARM_NATIVE_FLAG -mcpu=native)
+                    message(WARNING "ARM -march/-mcpu not found, -mcpu=native will be used")
+                else()
+                    message(STATUS "ARM detected flags: ${ARM_NATIVE_FLAG}")
                 endif()
 
                 include(CheckCXXSourceRuns)
 
                 function(check_arm_feature tag code)
                     set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS_SAVE ${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS})
-                    set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "${ARM_MCPU_FLAG}+${tag}")
+                    set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "${ARM_NATIVE_FLAG}+${tag}")
                     check_cxx_source_runs("${code}" GGML_MACHINE_SUPPORTS_${tag})
                     if (GGML_MACHINE_SUPPORTS_${tag})
-                        set(ARM_MCPU_FLAG_FIX "${ARM_MCPU_FLAG_FIX}+${tag}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+                        set(ARM_NATIVE_FLAG_FIX "${ARM_NATIVE_FLAG_FIX}+${tag}" PARENT_SCOPE)
                     else()
-                        set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "${ARM_MCPU_FLAG}+no${tag}")
+                        set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS "${ARM_NATIVE_FLAG}+no${tag}")
                         check_cxx_source_compiles("int main() { return 0; }" GGML_MACHINE_SUPPORTS_no${tag})
                         if (GGML_MACHINE_SUPPORTS_no${tag})
-                            set(ARM_MCPU_FLAG_FIX "${ARM_MCPU_FLAG_FIX}+no${tag}" PARENT_SCOPE)
+                            set(ARM_NATIVE_FLAG_FIX "${ARM_NATIVE_FLAG_FIX}+no${tag}" PARENT_SCOPE)
                         endif()
                     endif()
                     set(CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS ${CMAKE_REQUIRED_FLAGS_SAVE})
@@ -155,7 +166,7 @@ function(ggml_add_cpu_backend_variant_impl tag_name)
                 check_arm_feature(sve     "#include <arm_sve.h>\nint main()  { svfloat32_t _a, _b; volatile svfloat32_t _c = svadd_f32_z(svptrue_b8(), _a, _b); return 0; }")
                 check_arm_feature(sme     "#include <arm_sme.h>\n__arm_locally_streaming int main() { __asm__ volatile(\"smstart; smstop;\"); return 0; }")
 
-                list(APPEND ARCH_FLAGS "${ARM_MCPU_FLAG}${ARM_MCPU_FLAG_FIX}")
+                list(APPEND ARCH_FLAGS "${ARM_NATIVE_FLAG}${ARM_NATIVE_FLAG_FIX}")
             else()
                 if (GGML_CPU_ARM_ARCH)
                     list(APPEND ARCH_FLAGS -march=${GGML_CPU_ARM_ARCH})