diff --git a/srcpkgs/vscode/template b/srcpkgs/vscode/template
index 92173a9f919..d7bf0acd83f 100644
--- a/srcpkgs/vscode/template
+++ b/srcpkgs/vscode/template
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 pkgname=vscode
 version=1.49.0
 revision=1
+# XXX: please update to electron9 next time you rebuild this package
 _electronver=7.3.3
 hostmakedepends="pkg-config python nodejs-lts-10 yarn tar git"
 makedepends="libxkbfile-devel libsecret-devel electron7"
@@ -18,6 +19,10 @@ if [ "$XBPS_TARGET_WORDSIZE" = "32" ]; then
 	broken="FATAL ERROR: CALL_AND_RETRY_LAST Allocation failed - JavaScript heap out of memory"
 fi
 
++# avoid downloading electron binaries for target platform; we use
++# the system electron, and downloading does not work for all archs
++export ELECTRON_SKIP_BINARY_DOWNLOAD=1
+
 do_configure() {
 	# Use yarn to install dependencies
 	echo "" > build/npm/preinstall.js