diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index b4d67cf42..166dea7d6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -98,11 +98,19 @@ See https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Podman#Rootless_Podman for more informa
 
 # <a name="install-build-environment"></a>Install Build Environment (without Docker or Podman)
 
-To setup build environment manually, you can read the `Dockerfile`
-and mimic what it does.
+To setup build environment manually:
+- _Either_, in Android Studio, go to "Tools / SDK Manager / SDK Tools", enable "Show Package Details",
+  select "CMake" and the desired NDK, hit "Apply".
+- _Or_ read `Dockerfile` and mimic what it does.
 
-First, you need to setup Android SDK and Android NDK. Configure
-`ANDROID_NDK_ROOT` environment variable to point to the Android NDK
+Currently ndk20b is the minimum required version.
+Newer versions will likely work, however, changes on the ndk-version should be
+done with care. Too new versions do not support abi16 and cannot be used to target Android 4.3 or lower.
+
+Then, in both cases, install Rust using [rustup](https://rustup.rs/)
+and Rust toolchains for cross-compilation by executing `scripts/install-toolchains.sh`.
+
+Then, configure `ANDROID_NDK_ROOT` environment variable to point to the Android NDK
 installation directory e.g. by adding this to your `.bashrc`:
 
 ```bash
@@ -110,14 +118,6 @@ export ANDROID_NDK_ROOT=${HOME}/Android/Sdk/ndk/[version] # (or whereever your N
 export PATH=${PATH}:${ANDROID_NDK_ROOT}/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/linux-x86_64/bin/:${ANDROID_NDK_ROOT}
 ```
 
-Currently ndk20b is the minimum required version.
-Newer versions will likely work, however, are not tested and not used
-in official releases, in general, changes on the ndk-version should be
-done with care.
-
-Then, install Rust using [rustup](https://rustup.rs/). Install Rust
-toolchains for cross-compilation by executing `scripts/install-toolchains.sh`.
-
 After that, call `scripts/ndk-make.sh` in the root directory to build core-rust.
 Afterwards run the project in Android Studio. The project requires API 25.
 
diff --git a/scripts/ndk-make.sh b/scripts/ndk-make.sh
index eb03de147..0273e095b 100755
--- a/scripts/ndk-make.sh
+++ b/scripts/ndk-make.sh
@@ -46,6 +46,13 @@ echo Setting CARGO_TARGET environment variables.
 if test -z "$NDK_HOST_TAG"; then
     KERNEL="$(uname -s | tr '[:upper:]' '[:lower:]')"
     ARCH="$(uname -m)"
+
+    if test "$ARCH" == "arm64" && ! test -f "$ANDROID_NDK_ROOT/toolchains/llvm/prebuilt/$KERNEL-$ARCH/bin/aarch64-linux-android21-clang"; then
+        echo "arm64 host is not supported by $ANDROID_NDK_ROOT; trying to use x86_64, in case the host has a binary translation such as Rosetta or QEMU installed."
+        echo "(Newer NDK may support arm64 host but may lack support for Android4/ABI16)"
+        ARCH="x86_64"
+    fi
+
     NDK_HOST_TAG="$KERNEL-$ARCH"
 fi