diff --git a/distutils/_msvccompiler.py b/distutils/_msvccompiler.py
index b0322410..425bd72b 100644
--- a/distutils/_msvccompiler.py
+++ b/distutils/_msvccompiler.py
@@ -79,32 +79,40 @@ def _find_vc2017():
     if not root:
         return None, None
 
-    try:
-        path = subprocess.check_output(
-            [
-                os.path.join(
-                    root, "Microsoft Visual Studio", "Installer", "vswhere.exe"
-                ),
-                "-latest",
-                "-prerelease",
-                "-requires",
-                "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Tools.x86.x64",
-                "-property",
-                "installationPath",
-                "-products",
-                "*",
-            ],
-            encoding="mbcs",
-            errors="strict",
-        ).strip()
-    except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
-        return None, None
+    variant = 'arm64' if get_platform() == 'win-arm64' else 'x86.x64'
+    suitable_components = (
+        f"Microsoft.VisualStudio.Component.VC.Tools.{variant}",
+        "Microsoft.VisualStudio.Workload.WDExpress",
+    )
+
+    for component in suitable_components:
+        # Workaround for `-requiresAny` (only available on VS 2017 > 15.6)
+        with contextlib.suppress(
+            subprocess.CalledProcessError, OSError, UnicodeDecodeError
+        ):
+            path = (
+                subprocess.check_output([
+                    os.path.join(
+                        root, "Microsoft Visual Studio", "Installer", "vswhere.exe"
+                    ),
+                    "-latest",
+                    "-prerelease",
+                    "-requires",
+                    component,
+                    "-property",
+                    "installationPath",
+                    "-products",
+                    "*",
+                ])
+                .decode(encoding="mbcs", errors="strict")
+                .strip()
+            )
 
-    path = os.path.join(path, "VC", "Auxiliary", "Build")
-    if os.path.isdir(path):
-        return 15, path
+            path = os.path.join(path, "VC", "Auxiliary", "Build")
+            if os.path.isdir(path):
+                return 15, path
 
-    return None, None
+    return None, None  # no suitable component found
 
 
 PLAT_SPEC_TO_RUNTIME = {
@@ -140,7 +148,11 @@ def _get_vc_env(plat_spec):
 
     vcvarsall, _ = _find_vcvarsall(plat_spec)
     if not vcvarsall:
-        raise DistutilsPlatformError("Unable to find vcvarsall.bat")
+        raise DistutilsPlatformError(
+            'Microsoft Visual C++ 14.0 or greater is required. '
+            'Get it with "Microsoft C++ Build Tools": '
+            'https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/visual-cpp-build-tools/'
+        )
 
     try:
         out = subprocess.check_output(