diff --git a/inventory/group_vars/openqa-stg b/inventory/group_vars/openqa-stg
index 5f5bbcbcc7..c2f988e503 100644
--- a/inventory/group_vars/openqa-stg
+++ b/inventory/group_vars/openqa-stg
@@ -34,6 +34,9 @@ openqa_assetsize_updates: 75
 openqa_key: "{{ stg_openqa_apikey }}"
 openqa_secret: "{{ stg_openqa_apisecret }}"
 
+# for now, we have the 'extra' arches (ppc64 and aarch64) on stg
+openqa_extraarches: true
+
 wikitcms_password: "{{ stg_wikitcms_password }}"
 wikitcms_token: "{{ private }}/files/openidc/staging/wikitcms.json"
 
diff --git a/roles/openqa/dispatcher/defaults/main.yml b/roles/openqa/dispatcher/defaults/main.yml
index fded397ce1..8af3ea5913 100644
--- a/roles/openqa/dispatcher/defaults/main.yml
+++ b/roles/openqa/dispatcher/defaults/main.yml
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 openqa_hostname: localhost
 openqa_consumer: true
+openqa_extraarches: false
diff --git a/roles/openqa/dispatcher/files/images.json.ppc64 b/roles/openqa/dispatcher/files/images.json.extraarches
similarity index 100%
rename from roles/openqa/dispatcher/files/images.json.ppc64
rename to roles/openqa/dispatcher/files/images.json.extraarches
diff --git a/roles/openqa/dispatcher/tasks/main.yml b/roles/openqa/dispatcher/tasks/main.yml
index 99d1e10c55..c2b78043fa 100644
--- a/roles/openqa/dispatcher/tasks/main.yml
+++ b/roles/openqa/dispatcher/tasks/main.yml
@@ -9,6 +9,12 @@
 # - external_hostname
 ##       string - The public hostname of the openQA server (used in ResultsDB links)
 ##       default - ansible_nodename
+# - openqa_extraarches
+##      bool - when this is set, this instance will be configured to
+##             create jobs for 'extra' arches beyond x86_64 (currently
+##             ppc64 and aarch64). Only set it if this instance will
+##             have worker hosts for those arches
+##      default - false
 #
 # Optional vars
 # - wikitcms_token
@@ -99,12 +105,12 @@
   notify:
   - restart fedmsg-hub
 
-# For now, we want ppc64 jobs generated on staging but not prod (as we
-# have ppc64 workers for stg but not prod). So we have a WANTED file
-# for staging.
-- name: Install ppc64-imbued WANTED file if this is staging
-  copy: src=images.json.ppc64 dest=/etc/fedora-openqa/images.json
-  when: (deployment_type is defined) and (deployment_type == 'stg')
+# For now, we only have enough ppc64/aarch64 workers for one instance,
+# so we have a variant WANTED file that we deploy based on a config
+# variable.
+- name: Install extra arch WANTED images config if enabled
+  copy: src=images.json.extraarches dest=/etc/fedora-openqa/images.json
+  when: openqa_extraarches
   notify:
   - restart fedmsg-hub