diff --git a/dev-libs/pocl/pocl-1.8-r2.ebuild b/dev-libs/pocl/pocl-1.8-r2.ebuild
index 2c7536c0a..9e871355c 100644
--- a/dev-libs/pocl/pocl-1.8-r2.ebuild
+++ b/dev-libs/pocl/pocl-1.8-r2.ebuild
@@ -17,9 +17,16 @@ SRC_URI="https://github.com/pocl/pocl/archive/v${PV}.tar.gz -> ${P}.tar.gz"
 
 LICENSE="GPL-2"
 SLOT="0"
-KEYWORDS="~amd64"
+KEYWORDS="~amd64 ~ppc64"
 # TODO: hsa tce
-IUSE="accel cl20 +conformance cuda debug examples float-conversion hardening +hwloc memmanager test"
+IUSE="accel cl20 +conformance cpu_flags_ppc_altivec cpu_flags_ppc_vsx1 cpu_flags_ppc_vsx2 cpu_flags_ppc_vsx3 cuda debug examples float-conversion hardening +hwloc memmanager test"
+REQUIRED_USE="
+        cpu_flags_ppc_vsx3? ( cpu_flags_ppc_altivec cpu_flags_ppc_vsx1 cpu_flags_ppc_vsx2 )
+        cpu_flags_ppc_vsx2? ( cpu_flags_ppc_altivec cpu_flags_ppc_vsx1 )
+        cpu_flags_ppc_vsx1? ( cpu_flags_ppc_altivec )
+"
+
+
 # Tests not yet passing, fragile in Portage environment(?)
 RESTRICT="!test? ( test ) test"
 
@@ -68,12 +75,28 @@ pkg_setup() {
 }
 
 src_configure() {
+	local host_cpu_variants="generic"
+	if use amd64
+	then
+		# Use pocl's curated list of CPU variants which should contain a good match for any given amd64 CPU
+		host_cpu_variants="distro"
+	elif use ppc64
+	then
+		# Include all CPU generations that support the configured CPU_FLAGS_PPC
+		# i.e. the fewer CPU_FLAGS are present, the more variants should be selected
+		host_cpu_variants="pwr10;pwr9"
+		use cpu_flags_ppc_vsx3 || host_cpu_variants+=";pwr8"
+		use cpu_flags_ppc_vsx2 || host_cpu_variants+=";pwr7"
+		use cpu_flags_ppc_vsx1 || host_cpu_variants+=";pwr6;g5;a2"
+		use cpu_flags_ppc_altivec || host_cpu_variants+=";generic"
+	fi
+
 	local mycmakeargs=(
 		-DBUILD_SHARED_LIBS=ON
 		-DENABLE_HSA=OFF
 		-DENABLE_ICD=ON
 		-DENABLE_POCL_BUILDING=ON
-		-DKERNELLIB_HOST_CPU_VARIANTS=distro
+		-DKERNELLIB_HOST_CPU_VARIANTS="$host_cpu_variants"
 		-DPOCL_ICD_ABSOLUTE_PATH=ON
 		-DSTATIC_LLVM=OFF
 		-DWITH_LLVM_CONFIG=$(get_llvm_prefix -d "${LLVM_MAX_SLOT}")/bin/llvm-config