diff --git a/win32/build.py b/win32/build.py
index 36bfcd8e3..90edfd3ad 100755
--- a/win32/build.py
+++ b/win32/build.py
@@ -5,11 +5,15 @@ import sys, subprocess
 
 configure_args = sys.argv[1:]
 
-host_arch = 'i686-w64-mingw32'
+x64 = False
 
 if len(configure_args) > 0 and configure_args[0] == '--64':
-    configure_args = configure_args[1:]
+    x64 = True
+
+if x64:
     host_arch = 'x86_64-w64-mingw32'
+else:
+    host_arch = 'i686-w64-mingw32'
 
 # the path to the MPD sources
 mpd_path = os.path.abspath(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(sys.argv[0]) or '.', '..'))