diff --git a/debian/rules.defs b/debian/rules.defs
index 8ec7c7511..1990ae9a1 100644
--- a/debian/rules.defs
+++ b/debian/rules.defs
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+include /usr/share/dpkg/default.mk
+
 BUILD_DIR = debian/build
 STAMPS_DIR = debian/stamps
 
diff --git a/debian/rules.real b/debian/rules.real
index 44ef45e13..cc9a723de 100644
--- a/debian/rules.real
+++ b/debian/rules.real
@@ -6,12 +6,6 @@
 # expected to be available (need to be exported from the parent process).
 #
 SHELL  := bash -e
-ifdef ARCH
-DEB_HOST_ARCH     := $(shell dpkg-architecture -a'$(ARCH)' -qDEB_HOST_ARCH)
-DEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE := $(shell dpkg-architecture -a'$(ARCH)' -qDEB_HOST_GNU_TYPE)
-DEB_HOST_MULTIARCH:= $(shell dpkg-architecture -a'$(ARCH)' -qDEB_HOST_MULTIARCH)
-DEB_BUILD_ARCH    := $(shell dpkg-architecture -a'$(ARCH)' -qDEB_BUILD_ARCH)
-endif
 MAINTAINER := $(shell sed -ne 's,^Maintainer: .[^<]*<\([^>]*\)>,\1,p' debian/control)
 SOURCE_PACKAGE_NAME := $(shell dpkg-parsechangelog -SSource)
 DISTRIBUTION := $(shell dpkg-parsechangelog -SDistribution)