diff --git a/meta-arm-bsp/recipes-bsp/trusted-firmware-a/trusted-firmware-a-fvp-base.inc b/meta-arm-bsp/recipes-bsp/trusted-firmware-a/trusted-firmware-a-fvp-base.inc
index d773e41c..5fafe292 100644
--- a/meta-arm-bsp/recipes-bsp/trusted-firmware-a/trusted-firmware-a-fvp-base.inc
+++ b/meta-arm-bsp/recipes-bsp/trusted-firmware-a/trusted-firmware-a-fvp-base.inc
@@ -14,4 +14,7 @@ TFA_MBEDTLS = "1"
 TFA_UBOOT ?= "1"
 TFA_BUILD_TARGET = "bl1 bl2 bl31 dtbs fip"
 
-EXTRA_OEMAKE:append = " FVP_DT_PREFIX=fvp-base-gicv3-psci-1t"
+EXTRA_OEMAKE += "FVP_DT_PREFIX=fvp-base-gicv3-psci-1t"
+
+# Our fvp-base machine explicitly has v8.4 cores
+EXTRA_OEMAKE += "ARM_ARCH_MAJOR=8 ARM_ARCH_MINOR=4"