diff --git a/hack/make/.binary b/hack/make/.binary
index 4698020ec2897..58cdb6915ebec 100644
--- a/hack/make/.binary
+++ b/hack/make/.binary
@@ -18,7 +18,8 @@ source "${MAKEDIR}/.go-autogen"
 
 	case "$(go env GOOS)/$(go env GOARCH)" in
 		linux/arm)
-			case "${GOARM}" in
+			# specify name of the target ARM architecture for cross-compilation
+			case "$(go env GOARM)" in
 				5)
 					export CGO_CFLAGS="-march=armv5t"
 					export CGO_CXXFLAGS="-march=armv5t"