diff --git a/MAINTAINERS b/MAINTAINERS
index 42841ac015..04857c71fa 100644
--- a/MAINTAINERS
+++ b/MAINTAINERS
@@ -2747,6 +2747,7 @@ F: include/gdbstub/*
 F: gdb-xml/
 F: tests/tcg/multiarch/gdbstub/
 F: scripts/feature_to_c.sh
+F: scripts/probe-gdb-support.py
 
 Memory API
 M: Paolo Bonzini <pbonzini@redhat.com>
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index 219ff13748..fd3c12ff34 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -230,6 +230,7 @@ stack_protector=""
 safe_stack=""
 use_containers="yes"
 gdb_bin=$(command -v "gdb-multiarch" || command -v "gdb")
+gdb_arches=""
 
 if test -e "$source_path/.git"
 then
@@ -2395,6 +2396,7 @@ if test -n "$gdb_bin"; then
     gdb_version=$($gdb_bin --version | head -n 1)
     if version_ge ${gdb_version##* } 9.1; then
         echo "HAVE_GDB_BIN=$gdb_bin" >> $config_host_mak
+        gdb_arches=$("$source_path/scripts/probe-gdb-support.py" $gdb_bin)
     else
         gdb_bin=""
     fi
@@ -2519,6 +2521,12 @@ for target in $target_list; do
       write_target_makefile "build-tcg-tests-$target" >> "$config_target_mak"
       echo "BUILD_STATIC=$build_static" >> "$config_target_mak"
       echo "QEMU=$PWD/$qemu" >> "$config_target_mak"
+
+      # will GDB work with these binaries?
+      if test "${gdb_arches#*$arch}" != "$gdb_arches"; then
+          echo "HOST_GDB_SUPPORTS_ARCH=y" >> "$config_target_mak"
+      fi
+
       echo "run-tcg-tests-$target: $qemu\$(EXESUF)" >> Makefile.prereqs
       tcg_tests_targets="$tcg_tests_targets $target"
   fi
diff --git a/scripts/probe-gdb-support.py b/scripts/probe-gdb-support.py
new file mode 100755
index 0000000000..5755255966
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/probe-gdb-support.py
@@ -0,0 +1,88 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# coding: utf-8
+#
+# Probe gdb for supported architectures.
+#
+# This is required to support testing of the gdbstub as its hard to
+# handle errors gracefully during the test. Instead this script when
+# passed a GDB binary will probe its architecture support and return a
+# string of supported arches, stripped of guff.
+#
+# Copyright 2023 Linaro Ltd
+#
+# Author: Alex Bennée <alex.bennee@linaro.org>
+#
+# This work is licensed under the terms of the GNU GPL, version 2 or later.
+# See the COPYING file in the top-level directory.
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: GPL-2.0-or-later
+
+import argparse
+import re
+from subprocess import check_output, STDOUT
+
+# mappings from gdb arch to QEMU target
+mappings = {
+    "alpha" : "alpha",
+    "aarch64" : ["aarch64", "aarch64_be"],
+    "armv7": "arm",
+    "armv8-a" : ["aarch64", "aarch64_be"],
+    "avr" : "avr",
+    "cris" : "cris",
+    # no hexagon in upstream gdb
+    "hppa1.0" : "hppa",
+    "i386" : "i386",
+    "i386:x86-64" : "x86_64",
+    "Loongarch64" : "loongarch64",
+    "m68k" : "m68k",
+    "MicroBlaze" : "microblaze",
+    "mips:isa64" : ["mips64", "mips64el"],
+    "nios2" : "nios2",
+    "or1k" : "or1k",
+    "powerpc:common" : "ppc",
+    "powerpc:common64" : ["ppc64", "ppc64le"],
+    "riscv:rv32" : "riscv32",
+    "riscv:rv64" : "riscv64",
+    "s390:64-bit" : "s390x",
+    "sh4" : ["sh4", "sh4eb"],
+    "sparc": "sparc",
+    "sparc:v8plus": "sparc32plus",
+    "sparc:v9a" : "sparc64",
+    # no tricore in upstream gdb
+    "xtensa" : ["xtensa", "xtensaeb"]
+}
+
+def do_probe(gdb):
+    gdb_out = check_output([gdb,
+                            "-ex", "set architecture",
+                            "-ex", "quit"], stderr=STDOUT)
+
+    m = re.search(r"Valid arguments are (.*)",
+                  gdb_out.decode("utf-8"))
+
+    valid_arches = set()
+
+    if m.group(1):
+        for arch in m.group(1).split(", "):
+            if arch in mappings:
+                mapping = mappings[arch]
+                if isinstance(mapping, str):
+                    valid_arches.add(mapping)
+                else:
+                    for entry in mapping:
+                        valid_arches.add(entry)
+
+    return valid_arches
+
+def main() -> None:
+    parser = argparse.ArgumentParser(description='Probe GDB Architectures')
+    parser.add_argument('gdb', help='Path to GDB binary.')
+
+    args = parser.parse_args()
+
+    supported = do_probe(args.gdb)
+
+    print(" ".join(supported))
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    main()
diff --git a/tests/tcg/aarch64/Makefile.target b/tests/tcg/aarch64/Makefile.target
index db122ab4ff..9e91a20b0d 100644
--- a/tests/tcg/aarch64/Makefile.target
+++ b/tests/tcg/aarch64/Makefile.target
@@ -81,7 +81,7 @@ sha512-vector: sha512.c
 
 TESTS += sha512-vector
 
-ifneq ($(HAVE_GDB_BIN),)
+ifeq ($(HOST_GDB_SUPPORTS_ARCH),y)
 GDB_SCRIPT=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/guest-debug/run-test.py
 
 run-gdbstub-sysregs: sysregs
diff --git a/tests/tcg/multiarch/Makefile.target b/tests/tcg/multiarch/Makefile.target
index ae8b3d7268..373db69648 100644
--- a/tests/tcg/multiarch/Makefile.target
+++ b/tests/tcg/multiarch/Makefile.target
@@ -64,6 +64,7 @@ run-test-mmap-%: test-mmap
 	$(call run-test, test-mmap-$*, $(QEMU) -p $* $<, $< ($* byte pages))
 
 ifneq ($(HAVE_GDB_BIN),)
+ifeq ($(HOST_GDB_SUPPORTS_ARCH),y)
 GDB_SCRIPT=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/guest-debug/run-test.py
 
 run-gdbstub-sha1: sha1
@@ -87,6 +88,10 @@ run-gdbstub-thread-breakpoint: testthread
 		--bin $< --test $(MULTIARCH_SRC)/gdbstub/test-thread-breakpoint.py, \
 	hitting a breakpoint on non-main thread)
 
+else
+run-gdbstub-%:
+	$(call skip-test, "gdbstub test $*", "no guest arch support")
+endif
 else
 run-gdbstub-%:
 	$(call skip-test, "gdbstub test $*", "need working gdb")
diff --git a/tests/tcg/multiarch/system/Makefile.softmmu-target b/tests/tcg/multiarch/system/Makefile.softmmu-target
index 368b64d531..5f432c95f3 100644
--- a/tests/tcg/multiarch/system/Makefile.softmmu-target
+++ b/tests/tcg/multiarch/system/Makefile.softmmu-target
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ MULTIARCH_TEST_SRCS=$(wildcard $(MULTIARCH_SYSTEM_SRC)/*.c)
 MULTIARCH_TESTS = $(patsubst $(MULTIARCH_SYSTEM_SRC)/%.c, %, $(MULTIARCH_TEST_SRCS))
 
 ifneq ($(HAVE_GDB_BIN),)
+ifeq ($(HOST_GDB_SUPPORTS_ARCH),y)
 GDB_SCRIPT=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/guest-debug/run-test.py
 
 run-gdbstub-memory: memory
@@ -26,7 +27,10 @@ run-gdbstub-memory: memory
 		"-monitor none -display none -chardev file$(COMMA)path=$<.out$(COMMA)id=output $(QEMU_OPTS)" \
 		--bin $< --test $(MULTIARCH_SRC)/gdbstub/memory.py, \
 	softmmu gdbstub support)
-
+else
+run-gdbstub-%:
+	$(call skip-test, "gdbstub test $*", "no guest arch support")
+endif
 else
 run-gdbstub-%:
 	$(call skip-test, "gdbstub test $*", "need working gdb")
diff --git a/tests/tcg/s390x/Makefile.target b/tests/tcg/s390x/Makefile.target
index 72ad309b27..b7f576f983 100644
--- a/tests/tcg/s390x/Makefile.target
+++ b/tests/tcg/s390x/Makefile.target
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ $(Z15_TESTS): CFLAGS+=-march=z15 -O2
 TESTS+=$(Z15_TESTS)
 endif
 
-ifneq ($(HAVE_GDB_BIN),)
+ifeq ($(HOST_GDB_SUPPORTS_ARCH),y)
 GDB_SCRIPT=$(SRC_PATH)/tests/guest-debug/run-test.py
 
 run-gdbstub-signals-s390x: signals-s390x
