diff --git a/Changelog.md b/Changelog.md
index 329fbf3fb..aff9b6dd6 100644
--- a/Changelog.md
+++ b/Changelog.md
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ All notable changes to this project will be documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.0.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html) (for the cli, not for the crate).
 
+## Unreleased
+
+* Change manylinux default version based on target arch by messense in [#424](https://github.com/PyO3/maturin/pull/424)
+
 ## 0.9.4 - 2021-02-18
 
 * Fix building a bin with musl 
diff --git a/Readme.md b/Readme.md
index 596ea91d6..c9f23da66 100644
--- a/Readme.md
+++ b/Readme.md
@@ -244,7 +244,9 @@ OPTIONS:
             `off` (for the native linux tag). Note that manylinux1 is unsupported by the rust compiler. Wheels with the
             native tag will be rejected by pypi, unless they are separately validated by `auditwheel`.
 
-            This option is ignored on all non-linux platforms [default: 2010]  [possible values: 2010, 2014, off]
+            The default is the lowest supported value for a target, which is 2010 for x86 and 2014 for arm and powerpc.
+
+            This option is ignored on all non-linux platforms [possible values: 2010, 2014, off]
     -o, --out <out>
             The directory to store the built wheels in. Defaults to a new "wheels" directory in the project's target
             directory
@@ -305,7 +307,9 @@ OPTIONS:
             `off` (for the native linux tag). Note that manylinux1 is unsupported by the rust compiler. Wheels with the
             native tag will be rejected by pypi, unless they are separately validated by `auditwheel`.
 
-            This option is ignored on all non-linux platforms [default: 2010]  [possible values: 2010, 2014, off]
+            The default is the lowest supported value for a target, which is 2010 for x86 and 2014 for arm and powerpc.
+
+            This option is ignored on all non-linux platforms [possible values: 2010, 2014, off]
     -o, --out <out>
             The directory to store the built wheels in. Defaults to a new "wheels" directory in the project's target
             directory
diff --git a/src/build_options.rs b/src/build_options.rs
index 1093d084e..4b8b95469 100644
--- a/src/build_options.rs
+++ b/src/build_options.rs
@@ -24,14 +24,16 @@ pub struct BuildOptions {
     /// will be rejected by pypi, unless they are separately validated by
     /// `auditwheel`.
     ///
+    /// The default is the lowest supported value for a target, which is 2010 for x86 and 2014 for
+    /// arm and powerpc.
+    ///
     /// This option is ignored on all non-linux platforms
     #[structopt(
         long,
         possible_values = &["2010", "2014", "off"],
         case_insensitive = true,
-        default_value = "2010"
     )]
-    pub manylinux: Manylinux,
+    pub manylinux: Option<Manylinux>,
     #[structopt(short, long)]
     /// The python versions to build wheels for, given as the names of the
     /// interpreters. Uses autodiscovery if not explicitly set.
@@ -77,7 +79,7 @@ pub struct BuildOptions {
 impl Default for BuildOptions {
     fn default() -> Self {
         BuildOptions {
-            manylinux: Manylinux::Manylinux2010,
+            manylinux: None,
             interpreter: Some(vec![]),
             bindings: None,
             manifest_path: PathBuf::from("Cargo.toml"),
@@ -161,6 +163,9 @@ impl BuildOptions {
         }
 
         let target = Target::from_target_triple(self.target.clone())?;
+        let manylinux = self
+            .manylinux
+            .unwrap_or_else(|| target.get_default_manylinux_tag());
 
         let wheel_dir = match self.out {
             Some(ref dir) => dir.clone(),
@@ -191,7 +196,7 @@ impl BuildOptions {
             release,
             strip,
             skip_auditwheel: self.skip_auditwheel,
-            manylinux: self.manylinux,
+            manylinux,
             cargo_extra_args,
             rustc_extra_args,
             interpreter,
diff --git a/src/develop.rs b/src/develop.rs
index 89108a108..16a40f714 100644
--- a/src/develop.rs
+++ b/src/develop.rs
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ pub fn develop(
     let python = target.get_venv_python(&venv_dir);
 
     let build_options = BuildOptions {
-        manylinux: Manylinux::Off,
+        manylinux: Some(Manylinux::Off),
         interpreter: Some(vec![target.get_python()]),
         bindings,
         manifest_path: manifest_file.to_path_buf(),
diff --git a/src/target.rs b/src/target.rs
index 8b395cb88..76e6fef05 100644
--- a/src/target.rs
+++ b/src/target.rs
@@ -194,6 +194,16 @@ impl Target {
         }
     }
 
+    /// Returns the default Manylinux tag for this architecture
+    pub fn get_default_manylinux_tag(&self) -> Manylinux {
+        match self.arch {
+            Arch::AARCH64 | Arch::ARMV7L | Arch::POWERPC64 | Arch::POWERPC64LE => {
+                Manylinux::Manylinux2014
+            }
+            Arch::X86 | Arch::X86_64 => Manylinux::Manylinux2010,
+        }
+    }
+
     /// Returns the platform part of the tag for the wheel name for cffi wheels
     pub fn get_platform_tag(&self, manylinux: &Manylinux, universal2: bool) -> String {
         match (&self.os, &self.arch) {