diff --git a/imagebuildah/stage_executor.go b/imagebuildah/stage_executor.go
index 33a190345..3de366ddf 100644
--- a/imagebuildah/stage_executor.go
+++ b/imagebuildah/stage_executor.go
@@ -1130,18 +1130,35 @@ func (s *stageExecutor) prepare(ctx context.Context, from string, initializeIBCo
 	// In a multi-stage build where `FROM --platform=<>` was used then we must
 	// reset context for new stages so that new stages don't inherit unexpected
 	// `--platform` from prior stages.
-	if stage.Builder.Platform != "" || (len(s.stages) > 1 && (s.systemContext.ArchitectureChoice == "" && s.systemContext.VariantChoice == "" && s.systemContext.OSChoice == "")) {
-		imageOS, imageArch, imageVariant, err := parse.Platform(stage.Builder.Platform)
+	effectivePlatform := stage.Builder.Platform
+	if effectivePlatform == "" &&
+		len(s.stages) > 1 &&
+		s.systemContext.ArchitectureChoice == "" &&
+		s.systemContext.VariantChoice == "" &&
+		s.systemContext.OSChoice == "" {
+		for _, prevStage := range s.stages[:s.index] {
+			if prevStage.Builder.Platform != "" {
+				if s.executor.systemContext.ArchitectureChoice != "" ||
+					s.executor.systemContext.OSChoice != "" ||
+					s.executor.systemContext.VariantChoice != "" {
+					s.systemContext.ArchitectureChoice = s.executor.systemContext.ArchitectureChoice
+					s.systemContext.VariantChoice = s.executor.systemContext.VariantChoice
+					s.systemContext.OSChoice = s.executor.systemContext.OSChoice
+				} else {
+					effectivePlatform = "local"
+				}
+				break
+			}
+		}
+	}
+	if effectivePlatform != "" {
+		imageOS, imageArch, imageVariant, err := parse.Platform(effectivePlatform)
 		if err != nil {
-			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to parse platform %q: %w", stage.Builder.Platform, err)
-		}
-		if imageArch != "" || imageVariant != "" {
-			s.systemContext.ArchitectureChoice = imageArch
-			s.systemContext.VariantChoice = imageVariant
-		}
-		if imageOS != "" {
-			s.systemContext.OSChoice = imageOS
+			return nil, fmt.Errorf("unable to parse platform %q: %w", effectivePlatform, err)
 		}
+		s.systemContext.ArchitectureChoice = imageArch
+		s.systemContext.VariantChoice = imageVariant
+		s.systemContext.OSChoice = imageOS
 	}
 
 	builderOptions := buildah.BuilderOptions{
diff --git a/tests/bud.bats b/tests/bud.bats
index 34d86a113..5151f4102 100644
--- a/tests/bud.bats
+++ b/tests/bud.bats
@@ -11116,3 +11116,89 @@ EOF
 
   run_buildah build --pull=false --no-cache --jobs=2 --skip-unused-stages=false $WITH_POLICY_JSON $contextdir
 }
+
+@test "bud multi-stage build preserves architecture of local external images" {
+  # This tests that stages without a --platform flag are NOT aggressively
+  # reset to the host architecture. It ensures Buildah does not strict-match
+  # and crash when trying to resolve local images of a foreign architecture.
+
+  run_buildah info --format '{{.host.arch}}'
+  host_arch="$output"
+
+  # Select a foreign test architecture + variant
+  test_arch="arm"
+  test_variant="v7"
+  if [[ "$host_arch" == "arm" ]]; then
+    test_arch="arm64"
+    test_variant="v8"
+  fi
+
+  local contextdir="${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/multi-stage-variant"
+  mkdir -p "$contextdir"
+
+  # 1. Build an external local image with a foreign architecture
+  cat > "$contextdir/Dockerfile.base" << EOF
+FROM busybox
+ENV STAGE=base
+EOF
+  run_buildah build $WITH_POLICY_JSON --platform=linux/${test_arch}/${test_variant} -t local-cross-builder -f "$contextdir/Dockerfile.base" "$contextdir"
+
+  # 2. Main Dockerfile
+  cat > "$contextdir/Dockerfile" << EOF
+ARG BASE=local-cross-builder
+
+# Stage 1: Exists purely to test multi-stage behavior with local
+FROM alpine AS stage1
+
+# Stage 2: Uses the local foreign image without a --platform flag.
+# This should leave the context empty and successfully accept the local foreign image.
+FROM \${BASE} AS final
+ENV STAGE=final
+EOF
+
+  # 3. Build the multi-stage image.
+  run_buildah build $WITH_POLICY_JSON --target final -t test-final "$contextdir"
+
+  # 4. Verify the final image successfully retained the exact foreign architecture and variant.
+  run_buildah inspect --format '{{.OCIv1.Architecture}}' test-final
+  expect_output "${test_arch}"
+}
+
+@test "bud multi-stage build does not re-pull and overwrite local image" {
+  _prefetch alpine
+  start_registry
+  local authfile="${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/test.auth"
+  run_buildah login --tls-verify=false --authfile "$authfile" --username testuser --password testpassword "localhost:${REGISTRY_PORT}"
+
+  local registry="localhost:${REGISTRY_PORT}"
+  local contextdir="${TEST_SCRATCH_DIR}/re-pull-local"
+  mkdir -p "$contextdir"
+
+  # Build an image without the test file and push it to the registry
+  cat > "$contextdir/Dockerfile.remote" << _EOF
+FROM alpine
+RUN echo "remote-version" > /version.txt
+_EOF
+  run_buildah build $WITH_POLICY_JSON -t "${registry}/local-override:latest" -f "$contextdir/Dockerfile.remote" "$contextdir"
+  run_buildah push --authfile "$authfile" --tls-verify=false "${registry}/local-override:latest" "docker://${registry}/local-override:latest"
+
+  # Modify and rebuild the image locally with a local-only file (do not push!)
+  cat > "$contextdir/Dockerfile.local" << _EOF
+FROM alpine
+RUN echo "local-version" > /version.txt
+RUN echo "local-only" > /local-file.txt
+_EOF
+  run_buildah build $WITH_POLICY_JSON -t "${registry}/local-override:latest" -f "$contextdir/Dockerfile.local" "$contextdir"
+
+  # Multi-stage build that references the local image in stage 1
+  cat > "$contextdir/Dockerfile.multistage" << _EOF
+FROM ${registry}/local-override:latest AS stage1
+FROM alpine
+COPY --from=stage1 /local-file.txt /local-file.txt
+RUN cat /local-file.txt
+_EOF
+
+  # Build must succeed using the local image without re-pulling from the registry
+  run_buildah build --authfile "$authfile" --tls-verify=false -f "$contextdir/Dockerfile.multistage" "$contextdir"
+  expect_output --substring "local-only"
+}