diff --git a/osc/commandline.py b/osc/commandline.py
index 9102f48e..e0c0f95a 100644
--- a/osc/commandline.py
+++ b/osc/commandline.py
@@ -5398,36 +5398,35 @@ Please submit there instead, or use --nodevelproject to force direct submission.
         # store list of repos for potential offline use
         repolistfile = os.path.join(os.getcwd(), osc.core.store, "_build_repositories")
         if noinit:
-            if os.path.exists(repolistfile):
-                f = open(repolistfile, 'r')
-                repositories = [ l.strip()for l in f.readlines()]
-                f.close()
+            repositories = Repo.fromfile(repolistfile)
         else:
             project = alternative_project or store_read_project('.')
             apiurl = self.get_api_url()
-            repositories = get_repositories_of_project(apiurl, project)
+            repositories = list(get_repos_of_project(apiurl, project))
             if not len(repositories):
                 raise oscerr.WrongArgs('no repositories defined for project \'%s\'' % project)
-            try:
-                f = open(repolistfile, 'w')
-                f.write('\n'.join(repositories) + '\n')
-                f.close()
-            except:
-                pass
+            if alternative_project is None:
+                # only persist our own repos
+                Repo.tofile(repolistfile, repositories)
 
-        if not arg_repository and len(repositories):
+        repo_names = [r.name for r in repositories]
+        if not arg_repository and repositories:
             # Use a default value from config, but just even if it's available
             # unless try standard, or openSUSE_Factory
-            arg_repository = repositories[-1]
+            arg_repository = repositories[-1].name
             for repository in (conf.config['build_repository'], 'standard', 'openSUSE_Factory'):
-                if repository in repositories:
+                if repository in repo_names:
                     arg_repository = repository
                     break
 
         if not arg_repository:
             raise oscerr.WrongArgs('please specify a repository')
-        elif noinit == False and not arg_repository in repositories:
-            raise oscerr.WrongArgs('%s is not a valid repository, use one of: %s' % (arg_repository, ', '.join(repositories)))
+        if not noinit:
+            if not arg_repository in repo_names:
+                raise oscerr.WrongArgs('%s is not a valid repository, use one of: %s' % (arg_repository, ', '.join(repo_names)))
+            arches = [r.arch for r in repositories if r.name == arg_repository and r.arch]
+            if arches and not arg_arch in arches:
+                raise oscerr.WrongArgs('%s is not a valid arch for the repository %s, use one of: %s' % (arg_arch, arg_repository, ', '.join(arches)))
 
         # can be implemented using
         # reduce(lambda x, y: x + y, (glob.glob(x) for x in ('*.spec', '*.dsc', '*.kiwi')))
diff --git a/osc/core.py b/osc/core.py
index 71a518fa..52a70b84 100644
--- a/osc/core.py
+++ b/osc/core.py
@@ -5113,6 +5113,27 @@ class Repo:
     def __str__(self):
         return self.repo_line_templ % (self.name, self.arch)
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def fromfile(filename):
+        if not os.path.exists(filename):
+            return []
+        repos = []
+        lines = open(filename, 'r').readlines()
+        for line in lines:
+            data = line.split()
+            if len(data) == 2:
+                repos.append(Repo(data[0], data[1]))
+            elif len(data) == 1:
+                # only for backward compatibility
+                repos.append(Repo(data[0], ''))
+        return repos
+
+    @staticmethod
+    def tofile(filename, repos):
+        with open(filename, 'w') as f:
+            for repo in repos:
+                f.write('%s %s\n' % (repo.name, repo.arch))
+
 def get_repos_of_project(apiurl, prj):
     f = show_project_meta(apiurl, prj)
     root = ET.fromstring(''.join(f))