diff --git a/samcli/lib/providers/provider.py b/samcli/lib/providers/provider.py
index 27838a80a7..af0fc4ecb0 100644
--- a/samcli/lib/providers/provider.py
+++ b/samcli/lib/providers/provider.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 import os
 import posixpath
 from collections import namedtuple
+from platform import machine
 from typing import Any, Set, NamedTuple, Optional, List, Dict, Tuple, Union, cast, Iterator, TYPE_CHECKING
 
 from samcli.commands.local.cli_common.user_exceptions import (
@@ -20,7 +21,7 @@
     SAM_METADATA_SKIP_BUILD_KEY,
     SAM_RESOURCE_ID_KEY,
 )
-from samcli.lib.utils.architecture import X86_64
+from samcli.lib.utils.architecture import X86_64, ARM64
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:  # pragma: no cover
     # avoid circular import, https://docs.python.org/3/library/typing.html#typing.TYPE_CHECKING
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ def architecture(self) -> str:
             If the architectures value is invalid
         """
         if not self.architectures:
-            return X86_64
+            return ARM64 if machine() in ("arm64", "aarch64") else X86_64
 
         arch_list = cast(list, self.architectures)
         if len(arch_list) != 1:
diff --git a/tests/unit/commands/local/lib/test_provider.py b/tests/unit/commands/local/lib/test_provider.py
index 98e4a8099b..8aa09abca4 100644
--- a/tests/unit/commands/local/lib/test_provider.py
+++ b/tests/unit/commands/local/lib/test_provider.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import os
 import posixpath
+from platform import machine
 from unittest import TestCase
 from unittest.mock import MagicMock, Mock, patch
 
@@ -300,7 +301,7 @@ def setUp(self) -> None:
     @parameterized.expand(
         [
             ([ARM64], ARM64),
-            ([], X86_64),
+            ([], ARM64 if machine() in ("arm64", "aarch64") else X86_64),
             ([X86_64], X86_64),
         ]
     )