diff --git a/internal/cli/kraft/run/run.go b/internal/cli/kraft/run/run.go
index b9366f3b1..f29a19f39 100644
--- a/internal/cli/kraft/run/run.go
+++ b/internal/cli/kraft/run/run.go
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import (
 
 	"github.com/MakeNowJust/heredoc"
 	"github.com/rancher/wrangler/pkg/signals"
+	"github.com/sirupsen/logrus"
 	"github.com/spf13/cobra"
 	corev1 "k8s.io/api/core/v1"
 	"k8s.io/apimachinery/pkg/api/resource"
@@ -28,6 +29,7 @@ import (
 	"kraftkit.sh/machine/network"
 	mplatform "kraftkit.sh/machine/platform"
 	"kraftkit.sh/packmanager"
+	"kraftkit.sh/unikraft/arch"
 )
 
 type RunOptions struct {
@@ -259,6 +261,12 @@ func (opts *RunOptions) Run(ctx context.Context, args []string) error {
 		return err
 	}
 
+	if _, found := arch.ArchitecturesByName()[opts.Architecture]; !found {
+		log.G(ctx).WithFields(logrus.Fields{
+			"arch": opts.Architecture,
+		}).Warn("unknown or incompatible")
+	}
+
 	machine := &machineapi.Machine{
 		ObjectMeta: metav1.ObjectMeta{},
 		Spec: machineapi.MachineSpec{
diff --git a/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_kernel.go b/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_kernel.go
index a2f84f808..d89a948c1 100644
--- a/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_kernel.go
+++ b/internal/cli/kraft/run/runner_kernel.go
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import (
 
 	machineapi "kraftkit.sh/api/machine/v1alpha1"
 	"kraftkit.sh/unikraft"
+	"kraftkit.sh/unikraft/arch"
 )
 
 // runnerKernel is a simple runner used for instantiating a prebuilt Unikraft
@@ -65,11 +66,11 @@ func (runner *runnerKernel) Prepare(ctx context.Context, opts *RunOptions, machi
 
 		switch fe.Machine {
 		case elf.EM_X86_64, elf.EM_386:
-			machine.Spec.Architecture = "x86_64"
+			machine.Spec.Architecture = arch.ArchitectureX86_64.String()
 		case elf.EM_ARM:
-			machine.Spec.Architecture = "arm"
+			machine.Spec.Architecture = arch.ArchitectureArm.String()
 		case elf.EM_AARCH64:
-			machine.Spec.Architecture = "arm64"
+			machine.Spec.Architecture = arch.ArchitectureArm64.String()
 		default:
 			return fmt.Errorf("unsupported kernel architecture: %v", fe.Machine.String())
 		}
diff --git a/internal/cli/kraft/run/utils.go b/internal/cli/kraft/run/utils.go
index 9174e3c5c..536c7d70b 100644
--- a/internal/cli/kraft/run/utils.go
+++ b/internal/cli/kraft/run/utils.go
@@ -261,8 +261,7 @@ func (opts *RunOptions) prepareRootfs(ctx context.Context, machine *machineapi.M
 		fmt.Sprintf(initrd.DefaultInitramfsArchFileName, machine.Spec.Architecture),
 	)
 
-	fi, err := os.Stat(machine.Status.InitrdPath)
-	if err != nil {
+	if _, err := os.Stat(machine.Status.InitrdPath); err != nil {
 		ramfs, err := initrd.New(ctx,
 			opts.Rootfs,
 			initrd.WithOutput(machine.Status.InitrdPath),
@@ -277,18 +276,20 @@ func (opts *RunOptions) prepareRootfs(ctx context.Context, machine *machineapi.M
 			return fmt.Errorf("could not prepare initramfs: %w", err)
 		}
 
-		if _, err = ramfs.Build(ctx); err != nil {
+		if machine.Status.InitrdPath, err = ramfs.Build(ctx); err != nil {
 			return err
 		}
 	}
 
-	// Warn if the initrd path is greater than allocated memory
-	memRequest := machine.Spec.Resources.Requests[corev1.ResourceMemory]
-	if memRequest.Value() < fi.Size() {
-		log.G(ctx).Warnf("requested memory (%s) is less than initramfs (%s)",
-			humanize.Bytes(uint64(memRequest.Value())),
-			humanize.Bytes(uint64(fi.Size())),
-		)
+	if fi, err := os.Stat(machine.Status.InitrdPath); err == nil {
+		// Warn if the initrd path is greater than allocated memory
+		memRequest := machine.Spec.Resources.Requests[corev1.ResourceMemory]
+		if memRequest.Value() < fi.Size() {
+			log.G(ctx).Warnf("requested memory (%s) is less than initramfs (%s)",
+				humanize.Bytes(uint64(memRequest.Value())),
+				humanize.Bytes(uint64(fi.Size())),
+			)
+		}
 	}
 
 	return nil
diff --git a/unikraft/arch/architecture.go b/unikraft/arch/architecture.go
index e873bb270..c732ffcec 100644
--- a/unikraft/arch/architecture.go
+++ b/unikraft/arch/architecture.go
@@ -15,6 +15,63 @@ import (
 	"kraftkit.sh/unikraft/component"
 )
 
+type ArchitectureName string
+
+const (
+	ArchitectureUnknown = ArchitectureName("unknown")
+	ArchitectureX86_64  = ArchitectureName("x86_64")
+	ArchitectureArm64   = ArchitectureName("arm64")
+	ArchitectureArm     = ArchitectureName("arm")
+)
+
+// String implements fmt.Stringer
+func (ht ArchitectureName) String() string {
+	return string(ht)
+}
+
+// ArchitectureByName returns the architecture for a given name.
+// If the name is not known, it returns it unchanged.
+func ArchitectureByName(name string) ArchitectureName {
+	architectures := ArchitecturesByName()
+	if _, ok := architectures[name]; !ok {
+		return ArchitectureUnknown
+	}
+	return architectures[name]
+}
+
+// ArchitecturesByName returns the list of known architectures and their name alises.
+func ArchitecturesByName() map[string]ArchitectureName {
+	return map[string]ArchitectureName{
+		"x86_64": ArchitectureX86_64,
+		"arm64":  ArchitectureArm64,
+		"arm":    ArchitectureArm,
+	}
+}
+
+// Architectures returns all the unique Architectures.
+func Architectures() []ArchitectureName {
+	return []ArchitectureName{
+		ArchitectureX86_64,
+		ArchitectureArm64,
+		ArchitectureArm,
+	}
+}
+
+// ArchitectureAliases returns all the name alises for a given architecture.
+func ArchitectureAliases() map[ArchitectureName][]string {
+	aliases := map[ArchitectureName][]string{}
+
+	for alias, plat := range ArchitecturesByName() {
+		if aliases[plat] == nil {
+			aliases[plat] = make([]string, 0)
+		}
+
+		aliases[plat] = append(aliases[plat], alias)
+	}
+
+	return aliases
+}
+
 type Architecture interface {
 	component.Component
 }
@@ -110,12 +167,12 @@ func (ac ArchitectureConfig) KConfig() kconfig.KeyValueMap {
 	var arch strings.Builder
 	arch.WriteString(kconfig.Prefix)
 
-	switch ac.Name() {
-	case "x86_64", "amd64":
+	switch ArchitectureName(ac.Name()) {
+	case ArchitectureX86_64:
 		arch.WriteString("ARCH_X86_64")
-	case "arm32":
+	case ArchitectureArm:
 		arch.WriteString("ARCH_ARM_32")
-	case "arm64":
+	case ArchitectureArm64:
 		arch.WriteString("ARCH_ARM_64")
 	}