diff --git a/src/runtime/extern.go b/src/runtime/extern.go
index 1d8304f4fc..1df8691cfc 100644
--- a/src/runtime/extern.go
+++ b/src/runtime/extern.go
@@ -224,8 +224,8 @@ func Version() string {
 
 // GOOS is the running program's operating system target:
 // one of darwin, freebsd, linux, and so on.
-const GOOS string = sys.TheGoos
+const GOOS string = sys.GOOS
 
 // GOARCH is the running program's architecture target:
 // 386, amd64, arm, or s390x.
-const GOARCH string = sys.TheGoarch
+const GOARCH string = sys.GOARCH
diff --git a/src/runtime/heapdump.go b/src/runtime/heapdump.go
index e6a41f7f97..2410b1954a 100644
--- a/src/runtime/heapdump.go
+++ b/src/runtime/heapdump.go
@@ -496,7 +496,7 @@ func dumpparams() {
 	dumpint(sys.PtrSize)
 	dumpint(uint64(mheap_.arena_start))
 	dumpint(uint64(mheap_.arena_used))
-	dumpint(sys.TheChar)
+	dumpstr(sys.GOARCH)
 	dumpstr(sys.Goexperiment)
 	dumpint(uint64(ncpu))
 }
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c1757041d8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch.go
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+// Copyright 2014 The Go Authors. All rights reserved.
+// Use of this source code is governed by a BSD-style
+// license that can be found in the LICENSE file.
+
+package sys
+
+type ArchFamilyType int
+
+const (
+	AMD64 ArchFamilyType = iota
+	ARM
+	ARM64
+	I386
+	MIPS64
+	PPC64
+	S390X
+)
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_386.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_386.go
index 1f1c704f9a..48c42f7584 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_386.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_386.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = '8'
+	ArchFamily    = I386
 	BigEndian     = 0
 	CacheLineSize = 64
 	PhysPageSize  = GoosNacl*65536 + (1-GoosNacl)*4096 // 4k normally; 64k on NaCl
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_amd64.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_amd64.go
index 80fff557f2..1bbdb99e07 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_amd64.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_amd64.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = '6'
+	ArchFamily    = AMD64
 	BigEndian     = 0
 	CacheLineSize = 64
 	PhysPageSize  = 4096
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_amd64p32.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_amd64p32.go
index ca29f698a2..b7011a4ff2 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_amd64p32.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_amd64p32.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = '6'
+	ArchFamily    = AMD64
 	BigEndian     = 0
 	CacheLineSize = 64
 	PhysPageSize  = 65536*GoosNacl + 4096*(1-GoosNacl)
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_arm.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_arm.go
index b185e8fb69..f90f52da7f 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_arm.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_arm.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = '5'
+	ArchFamily    = ARM
 	BigEndian     = 0
 	CacheLineSize = 32
 	PhysPageSize  = 65536*GoosNacl + 4096*(1-GoosNacl)
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_arm64.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_arm64.go
index b63a7a6f9a..aaaa4b0947 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_arm64.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_arm64.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = '7'
+	ArchFamily    = ARM64
 	BigEndian     = 0
 	CacheLineSize = 32
 	PhysPageSize  = 65536
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_mips64.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_mips64.go
index 5b933d4e1a..d5672599d2 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_mips64.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_mips64.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = '0'
+	ArchFamily    = MIPS64
 	BigEndian     = 1
 	CacheLineSize = 32
 	PhysPageSize  = 16384
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_mips64le.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_mips64le.go
index ce2e98b19f..f8cdf2b2d2 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_mips64le.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_mips64le.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = '0'
+	ArchFamily    = MIPS64
 	BigEndian     = 0
 	CacheLineSize = 32
 	PhysPageSize  = 16384
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_ppc64.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_ppc64.go
index 3aa07e1f56..cdec63ff71 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_ppc64.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_ppc64.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = '9'
+	ArchFamily    = PPC64
 	BigEndian     = 1
 	CacheLineSize = 64
 	PhysPageSize  = 65536
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_ppc64le.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_ppc64le.go
index 0f02f0bf3c..4fd68f9ce3 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_ppc64le.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_ppc64le.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = '9'
+	ArchFamily    = PPC64
 	BigEndian     = 0
 	CacheLineSize = 64
 	PhysPageSize  = 65536
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_s390x.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_s390x.go
index 8690571c81..ca1cb8646e 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_s390x.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/arch_s390x.go
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@
 package sys
 
 const (
-	TheChar       = 'z'
+	ArchFamily    = S390X
 	BigEndian     = 1
 	CacheLineSize = 256
 	PhysPageSize  = 4096
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/gengoos.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/gengoos.go
index e2bd87de4e..4c45c0af02 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/gengoos.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/gengoos.go
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ func main() {
 			fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "// +build !android\n\n") // must explicitly exclude android for linux
 		}
 		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "package sys\n\n")
-		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "const TheGoos = `%s`\n\n", target)
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "const GOOS = `%s`\n\n", target)
 		for _, goos := range gooses {
 			value := 0
 			if goos == target {
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ func main() {
 		var buf bytes.Buffer
 		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "// generated by gengoos.go using 'go generate'\n\n")
 		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "package sys\n\n")
-		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "const TheGoarch = `%s`\n\n", target)
+		fmt.Fprintf(&buf, "const GOARCH = `%s`\n\n", target)
 		for _, goarch := range goarches {
 			value := 0
 			if goarch == target {
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_386.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_386.go
index 3ad244509d..3bcf83b8e3 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_386.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_386.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `386`
+const GOARCH = `386`
 
 const Goarch386 = 1
 const GoarchAmd64 = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_amd64.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_amd64.go
index 7c858e3f5d..699f191fba 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_amd64.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_amd64.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `amd64`
+const GOARCH = `amd64`
 
 const Goarch386 = 0
 const GoarchAmd64 = 1
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_amd64p32.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_amd64p32.go
index 772031c090..cc2d658406 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_amd64p32.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_amd64p32.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `amd64p32`
+const GOARCH = `amd64p32`
 
 const Goarch386 = 0
 const GoarchAmd64 = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_arm.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_arm.go
index 276e8a869b..a5fd789f13 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_arm.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_arm.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `arm`
+const GOARCH = `arm`
 
 const Goarch386 = 0
 const GoarchAmd64 = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_arm64.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_arm64.go
index d124ec0343..084d2c7330 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_arm64.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_arm64.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `arm64`
+const GOARCH = `arm64`
 
 const Goarch386 = 0
 const GoarchAmd64 = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_mips64.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_mips64.go
index b4a97d6da9..2ad62bd68c 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_mips64.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_mips64.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `mips64`
+const GOARCH = `mips64`
 
 const Goarch386 = 0
 const GoarchAmd64 = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_mips64le.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_mips64le.go
index 3328a35bd2..047c8b425a 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_mips64le.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_mips64le.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `mips64le`
+const GOARCH = `mips64le`
 
 const Goarch386 = 0
 const GoarchAmd64 = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_ppc64.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_ppc64.go
index 06f78b2023..748b5b562c 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_ppc64.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_ppc64.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `ppc64`
+const GOARCH = `ppc64`
 
 const Goarch386 = 0
 const GoarchAmd64 = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_ppc64le.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_ppc64le.go
index 50b56dbe3f..d3dcba467d 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_ppc64le.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_ppc64le.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `ppc64le`
+const GOARCH = `ppc64le`
 
 const Goarch386 = 0
 const GoarchAmd64 = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_s390x.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_s390x.go
index ce85f20e0a..1ead5d573c 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_s390x.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoarch_s390x.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoarch = `s390x`
+const GOARCH = `s390x`
 
 const Goarch386 = 0
 const GoarchAmd64 = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_android.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_android.go
index 03d91760ed..6503b15246 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_android.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_android.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `android`
+const GOOS = `android`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 1
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_darwin.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_darwin.go
index eb2efeb7af..6a285984bd 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_darwin.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_darwin.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `darwin`
+const GOOS = `darwin`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 1
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_dragonfly.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_dragonfly.go
index 403cf65311..886ac2698f 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_dragonfly.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_dragonfly.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `dragonfly`
+const GOOS = `dragonfly`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_freebsd.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_freebsd.go
index 632d5db9db..0bf2403eab 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_freebsd.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_freebsd.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `freebsd`
+const GOOS = `freebsd`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_linux.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_linux.go
index 2d43869a84..c8664db15d 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_linux.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_linux.go
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `linux`
+const GOOS = `linux`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_nacl.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_nacl.go
index a56b6ef3c9..054122638a 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_nacl.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_nacl.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `nacl`
+const GOOS = `nacl`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_netbsd.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_netbsd.go
index 46fd0a7cd5..5c509a1250 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_netbsd.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_netbsd.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `netbsd`
+const GOOS = `netbsd`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_openbsd.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_openbsd.go
index 7ee650afbb..dc43157d49 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_openbsd.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_openbsd.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `openbsd`
+const GOOS = `openbsd`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_plan9.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_plan9.go
index 162e7f6260..4b0934f77a 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_plan9.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_plan9.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `plan9`
+const GOOS = `plan9`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_solaris.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_solaris.go
index b2a8f98504..42511a36ad 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_solaris.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_solaris.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `solaris`
+const GOOS = `solaris`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_windows.go b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_windows.go
index 817ec79e4c..d77f62c396 100644
--- a/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_windows.go
+++ b/src/runtime/internal/sys/zgoos_windows.go
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 
 package sys
 
-const TheGoos = `windows`
+const GOOS = `windows`
 
 const GoosAndroid = 0
 const GoosDarwin = 0
diff --git a/src/runtime/mgcmark.go b/src/runtime/mgcmark.go
index 66d61bae1e..1ab8315a29 100644
--- a/src/runtime/mgcmark.go
+++ b/src/runtime/mgcmark.go
@@ -719,8 +719,8 @@ func scanframeworker(frame *stkframe, cache *pcvalueCache, gcw *gcWork) {
 	// Scan local variables if stack frame has been allocated.
 	size := frame.varp - frame.sp
 	var minsize uintptr
-	switch sys.TheChar {
-	case '7':
+	switch sys.ArchFamily {
+	case sys.ARM64:
 		minsize = sys.SpAlign
 	default:
 		minsize = sys.MinFrameSize
diff --git a/src/runtime/stack.go b/src/runtime/stack.go
index fdd6710bad..dcb1b06dbd 100644
--- a/src/runtime/stack.go
+++ b/src/runtime/stack.go
@@ -634,8 +634,8 @@ func adjustframe(frame *stkframe, arg unsafe.Pointer) bool {
 	// Adjust local variables if stack frame has been allocated.
 	size := frame.varp - frame.sp
 	var minsize uintptr
-	switch sys.TheChar {
-	case '7':
+	switch sys.ArchFamily {
+	case sys.ARM64:
 		minsize = sys.SpAlign
 	default:
 		minsize = sys.MinFrameSize
@@ -662,7 +662,7 @@ func adjustframe(frame *stkframe, arg unsafe.Pointer) bool {
 	}
 
 	// Adjust saved base pointer if there is one.
-	if sys.TheChar == '6' && frame.argp-frame.varp == 2*sys.RegSize {
+	if sys.ArchFamily == sys.AMD64 && frame.argp-frame.varp == 2*sys.RegSize {
 		if !framepointer_enabled {
 			print("runtime: found space for saved base pointer, but no framepointer experiment\n")
 			print("argp=", hex(frame.argp), " varp=", hex(frame.varp), "\n")
@@ -969,7 +969,7 @@ func newstack() {
 		throw("missing stack in newstack")
 	}
 	sp := gp.sched.sp
-	if sys.TheChar == '6' || sys.TheChar == '8' {
+	if sys.ArchFamily == sys.AMD64 || sys.ArchFamily == sys.I386 {
 		// The call to morestack cost a word.
 		sp -= sys.PtrSize
 	}