diff --git a/deb/list.go b/deb/list.go
index e88069f2..ada6fab7 100644
--- a/deb/list.go
+++ b/deb/list.go
@@ -317,6 +317,9 @@ func (l *PackageList) VerifyDependencies(options int, architectures []string, so
 		progress.InitBar(int64(l.Len())*int64(len(architectures)), false, aptly.BarGeneralVerifyDependencies)
 	}
 
+	if len(architectures) == 0 {
+		return nil, fmt.Errorf("no architectures defined, cannot verify dependencies")
+	}
 	for _, arch := range architectures {
 		cache := make(map[string]bool, 2048)
 
diff --git a/deb/remote.go b/deb/remote.go
index 6ecb7e80..b12f0dd3 100644
--- a/deb/remote.go
+++ b/deb/remote.go
@@ -105,7 +105,6 @@ func NewRemoteRepo(name string, archiveRoot string, distribution string, compone
 		if !strings.HasPrefix(result.Distribution, ".") {
 			result.Distribution = "./" + result.Distribution
 		}
-		result.Architectures = nil
 		if len(result.Components) > 0 {
 			return nil, fmt.Errorf("components aren't supported for flat repos")
 		}
@@ -351,7 +350,7 @@ ok:
 		return err
 	}
 
-	if !repo.IsFlat() {
+	if len(stanza["Architectures"]) > 0 {
 		architectures := strings.Split(stanza["Architectures"], " ")
 		sort.Strings(architectures)
 		// "source" architecture is never present, despite Release file claims
@@ -365,7 +364,13 @@ ok:
 				return err
 			}
 		}
+	}
 
+	if len(repo.Architectures) == 0 {
+		return fmt.Errorf("no architectures found, please specify")
+	}
+
+	if !repo.IsFlat() {
 		components := strings.Split(stanza["Components"], " ")
 		if strings.Contains(repo.Distribution, "/") {
 			distributionLast := path.Base(repo.Distribution) + "/"
diff --git a/deb/remote_test.go b/deb/remote_test.go
index 2cda7d5e..1998db7e 100644
--- a/deb/remote_test.go
+++ b/deb/remote_test.go
@@ -115,7 +115,6 @@ func (s *RemoteRepoSuite) TestInvalidURL(c *C) {
 func (s *RemoteRepoSuite) TestFlatCreation(c *C) {
 	c.Check(s.flat.IsFlat(), Equals, true)
 	c.Check(s.flat.Distribution, Equals, "./")
-	c.Check(s.flat.Architectures, IsNil)
 	c.Check(s.flat.Components, IsNil)
 
 	flat2, _ := NewRemoteRepo("flat2", "http://pkg.jenkins-ci.org/debian-stable", "binary/", []string{}, []string{}, false, false, false)
diff --git a/debian/aptly-api.service b/debian/aptly-api.service
index 1d1c0c2e..5e447ace 100644
--- a/debian/aptly-api.service
+++ b/debian/aptly-api.service
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@ Group=aptly-api
 Environment=TERM=dumb
 WorkingDirectory=~
 EnvironmentFile=/etc/default/aptly-api
-ExecStart=/usr/bin/aptly api serve -config=/etc/aptly.conf -listen=${LISTEN_ADDRESS}
+ExecStart=/usr/bin/aptly api serve -config=/etc/aptly.conf -no-lock -listen=${LISTEN_ADDRESS}
 
 [Install]
 WantedBy=multi-user.target
diff --git a/debian/control b/debian/control
index 09d0b824..ee78d412 100644
--- a/debian/control
+++ b/debian/control
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ Testsuite: autopkgtest-pkg-go
 
 Package: aptly
 Architecture: any
-Depends: bzip2, xz-utils, gnupg, gpgv, ${shlibs:Depends}, ${misc:Depends}
+Depends: ${misc:Depends}, ${shlibs:Depends}, bzip2, xz-utils, adduser, gpg (>= 2.2.12)
 Suggests: graphviz
 Conflicts: gnupg1, gpgv1
 Built-Using: ${misc:Static-Built-Using}, ${misc:Built-Using}
diff --git a/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror14Test_mirror_show b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror14Test_mirror_show
index 754770d0..38056b54 100644
--- a/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror14Test_mirror_show
+++ b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror14Test_mirror_show
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Name: mirror14
 Archive Root URL: http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/cloud.r-project.org/bin/linux/debian/
 Distribution: ./bullseye-cran40/
 Components: 
-Architectures: 
+Architectures: all, amd64, i386
 Download Sources: no
 Download .udebs: no
 Last update: never
diff --git a/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror21Test_mirror_show b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror21Test_mirror_show
index a0389012..2eed39be 100644
--- a/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror21Test_mirror_show
+++ b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror21Test_mirror_show
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Name: mirror21
 Archive Root URL: http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/pkg.jenkins.io/debian-stable/
 Distribution: ./binary/
 Components: 
-Architectures: 
+Architectures: all
 Download Sources: no
 Download .udebs: no
 Last update: never
diff --git a/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror33Test_mirror_show b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror33Test_mirror_show
index 1b058198..24e24938 100644
--- a/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror33Test_mirror_show
+++ b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror33Test_mirror_show
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ Name: mirror33
 Archive Root URL: http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/nvidia.github.io/libnvidia-container/stable/ubuntu16.04/amd64/
 Distribution: ./
 Components: 
-Architectures: 
+Architectures: amd64
 Download Sources: no
 Download .udebs: no
 Last update: never
diff --git a/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror34Test_gold b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror34Test_gold
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..291d2058
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror34Test_gold
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+Downloading: http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/Release
+Error (retrying): HTTP code 404 while fetching http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/Release
+Retrying 0 http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/Release...
+Download Error: http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/Release
+Downloading: http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/InRelease
+ERROR: unable to fetch mirror: no architectures found, please specify
diff --git a/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror35Test_gold b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror35Test_gold
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ae8e1c6d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror35Test_gold
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+Downloading & parsing package files...
+Applying filter...
+Packages filtered: 4743 -> 81.
+Building download queue...
+Download queue: 81 items (3.00 GiB)
+
diff --git a/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror35Test_mirror_show b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror35Test_mirror_show
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3ae1920a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/system/t04_mirror/CreateMirror35Test_mirror_show
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+Name: mirror35
+Archive Root URL: http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/
+Distribution: ./
+Components: 
+Architectures: amd64
+Download Sources: no
+Download .udebs: no
+Filter: cuda-12-6 (= 12.6.2-1)
+Filter With Deps: yes
+Last update: never
+
+Information from release file:
+Acquire-By-Hash: no
+Architecture: x86_64
+Date: Mon, 04 Nov 2024 16:02:23 +0000
+Label: NVIDIA CUDA
+Origin: NVIDIA
diff --git a/system/t04_mirror/ListMirror6Test_gold b/system/t04_mirror/ListMirror6Test_gold
index bed19fa2..18cfd1c3 100644
--- a/system/t04_mirror/ListMirror6Test_gold
+++ b/system/t04_mirror/ListMirror6Test_gold
@@ -126,7 +126,10 @@
     "ArchiveRoot": "http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/download.opensuse.org/repositories/Apache:/MirrorBrain/Debian_9.0/",
     "Distribution": "./",
     "Components": null,
-    "Architectures": null,
+    "Architectures": [
+      "amd64",
+      "i386"
+    ],
     "Meta": {
       "Architectures": "i386 amd64",
       "Archive": "Debian_9.0",
diff --git a/system/t04_mirror/create.py b/system/t04_mirror/create.py
index ef3d80f6..ecf3b6d4 100644
--- a/system/t04_mirror/create.py
+++ b/system/t04_mirror/create.py
@@ -454,3 +454,38 @@ class CreateMirror33Test(BaseTest):
     def check(self):
         self.check_output()
         self.check_cmd_output("aptly mirror show mirror33", "mirror_show")
+
+
+class CreateMirror34Test(BaseTest):
+    """
+    create mirror error: flat repo with filter but no architectures in InRelease file
+    """
+    configOverride = {"max-tries": 1}
+    runCmd = "aptly mirror create -ignore-signatures -filter \"cuda-12-6 (= 12.6.2-1)\" -filter-with-deps mirror34 http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/ ./"
+
+
+class CreateMirror35Test(BaseTest):
+    """
+    create mirror: flat repo with filter but no architectures in InRelease file
+    """
+    configOverride = {"max-tries": 1}
+    fixtureCmds = [
+        "aptly mirror create -architectures amd64 -ignore-signatures -filter \"cuda-12-6 (= 12.6.2-1)\" -filter-with-deps mirror35 "
+        "http://repo.aptly.info/system-tests/developer.download.nvidia.com/compute/cuda/repos/ubuntu2204/x86_64/ ./",
+    ]
+    runCmd = "aptly mirror update -ignore-signatures mirror35"
+
+    # the downloading of the actual packages will return 404 since they don't exist. ignore the errors, the test verifies proper count of filtered packages
+
+    def outputMatchPrepare(self, s):
+        s = re.sub(r'Downloading: .*\n', '', s, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+        s = re.sub(r'Download Error: .*\n', '', s, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+        s = re.sub(r'Retrying .*\n', '', s, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+        s = re.sub(r'Error \(retrying\): .*\n', '', s, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+        s = re.sub(r'HTTP code 404 while fetching .*\n', '', s, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+        s = re.sub(r'ERROR: unable to update: .*\n', '', s, flags=re.MULTILINE)
+        return s
+
+    def check(self):
+        self.check_output()
+        self.check_cmd_output("aptly mirror show mirror35", "mirror_show")