diff --git a/container/Containerfile b/container/Containerfile
index 4634b52f..740b0417 100644
--- a/container/Containerfile
+++ b/container/Containerfile
@@ -46,10 +46,23 @@ RUN curl --proto '=https' --tlsv1.2 -sSf https://sh.rustup.rs \
 # sccache — shared compilation cache. Enabled at build time via
 # RUSTC_WRAPPER (see the CI workflow and .devcontainer), not repo-wide, so
 # non-SDK builds are unaffected. musl build is static and runs anywhere.
+#
+# The release asset is per-architecture, so resolve it from `uname -m` rather
+# than hardcoding one triple: everything else in this image is arch-agnostic,
+# and a pinned x86_64 URL is what forces an amd64 build (and Rosetta or qemu)
+# on an arm64 host. `uname -m` reflects the build platform under plain
+# docker/podman build as well as buildx, unlike the BuildKit-only TARGETARCH.
 ARG SCCACHE_VERSION=0.8.2
-RUN curl -fsSL "https://github.com/mozilla/sccache/releases/download/v${SCCACHE_VERSION}/sccache-v${SCCACHE_VERSION}-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl.tar.gz" \
-      | tar -xz -C /tmp \
-    && install -m755 "/tmp/sccache-v${SCCACHE_VERSION}-x86_64-unknown-linux-musl/sccache" /usr/local/bin/sccache \
-    && rm -rf /tmp/sccache-*
+RUN set -eux; \
+    case "$(uname -m)" in \
+      x86_64)  sccache_arch=x86_64 ;; \
+      aarch64|arm64) sccache_arch=aarch64 ;; \
+      *) echo "unsupported architecture for sccache: $(uname -m)" >&2; exit 1 ;; \
+    esac; \
+    sccache_dist="sccache-v${SCCACHE_VERSION}-${sccache_arch}-unknown-linux-musl"; \
+    curl -fsSL "https://github.com/mozilla/sccache/releases/download/v${SCCACHE_VERSION}/${sccache_dist}.tar.gz" \
+      | tar -xz -C /tmp; \
+    install -m755 "/tmp/${sccache_dist}/sccache" /usr/local/bin/sccache; \
+    rm -rf /tmp/sccache-*
 
 WORKDIR /work
diff --git a/container/README.md b/container/README.md
index 76c8cf91..fce6d67f 100644
--- a/container/README.md
+++ b/container/README.md
@@ -17,6 +17,13 @@ and `clippy` are identical everywhere — no "works on my machine".
 
 ## Build and publish
 
+Nothing in the image is architecture-specific: the base image, the Debian build
+dependencies, Node.js, `rustup` and the `sccache` release all resolve per
+architecture, so the same `Containerfile` builds natively on x86_64 and arm64.
+
+Single architecture — the tag then only works on the architecture you built it
+on:
+
 ```bash
 # from the repo root
 podman build -t git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest container
@@ -24,12 +31,48 @@ podman login git.haxx.space
 podman push git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest
 ```
 
+**Both architectures without emulation.** The CI runner is x86_64 and Apple
+Silicon developer machines are arm64, so `:latest` has to be a manifest list —
+a single-architecture tag makes the other side fall back to Rosetta or qemu.
+Build each half natively on a host of that architecture, then join them:
+
+```bash
+# on an x86_64 host
+podman build --platform linux/amd64 -t git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest-amd64 container
+podman push git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest-amd64
+
+# on an arm64 host
+podman build --platform linux/arm64 -t git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest-arm64 container
+podman push git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest-arm64
+
+# from either, once both are pushed
+podman manifest create git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest \
+  git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest-amd64 \
+  git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest-arm64
+podman manifest push --all git.haxx.space/sjg/trx-rs/sdk:latest
+```
+
+Building both from one machine is a single command
+(`podman build --platform linux/amd64,linux/arm64 --manifest ...`), but the
+foreign half runs under emulation and is slow — the two-host flow above is
+what keeps every build native.
+
 Tag with the Rust version too (e.g. `:1.97.1`) if you want reproducible pins.
 Make the package **public** (Gitea → Packages → the image → Settings) so the CI
 runner and developers can pull it without credentials. If you keep it private,
 add `credentials:` under the workflow's `container:` and log the runner into the
 registry.
 
+### macOS note
+
+Apple's `container` CLI builds through a BuildKit helper VM that is configured
+with Rosetta whether or not the target is x86_64, so `container build` fails
+with *"Rosetta is not installed"* on a clean machine. That is a property of the
+builder, not of this image — `container run` works natively without it. Either
+install Rosetta once (`softwareupdate --install-rosetta`, after which an arm64
+build still produces a native arm64 image), or build with Podman, whose arm64
+BuildKit needs no emulation.
+
 ## Developer use
 
 Reproducible one-off build, no local toolchain needed:
@@ -111,8 +154,10 @@ adduser -S -D -H -h /var/lib/act_runner act
 addgroup act docker
 
 # 2. act_runner binary (static Go build, works on musl)
+#    Upstream publishes per-architecture builds; pick the host's.
+case "$(uname -m)" in x86_64) arch=amd64 ;; aarch64) arch=arm64 ;; esac
 curl -fsSL -o /usr/local/bin/act_runner \
-  https://gitea.com/gitea/act_runner/releases/download/v0.2.11/act_runner-0.2.11-linux-amd64
+  "https://gitea.com/gitea/act_runner/releases/download/v0.2.11/act_runner-0.2.11-linux-${arch}"
 chmod +x /usr/local/bin/act_runner
 
 # 3. Config + register one runner per project (scope keeps their jobs apart)