diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 31ca2dbd28de07594d9d42c5b0a92fce5c6d5d04..16f6dc25aa4bc3b66911c5b23db7a0d977f0998c 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -55,7 +55,7 @@ matrix:
     compiler: clang
 
 ######################### LINUX #########################
-## test gcc6 - single node/rank with threading backend ##
+## test gcc7 - single node/rank with threading backend ##
   - name: "linux, gcc, serial, py"
     os: linux
     dist: bionic
@@ -63,16 +63,16 @@ matrix:
       apt:
         sources:
         packages:
-          - g++-6
+          - g++-7
           - openmpi-bin
           - libopenmpi-dev
     env:
-      - MATRIX_EVAL="CC=gcc-6 && CXX=g++-6"
+      - MATRIX_EVAL="CC=gcc-7 && CXX=g++-7"
       - BUILD_NAME=cthread-linux-gcc-py
       - WITH_DISTRIBUTED=serial WITH_PYTHON=true PY=3
-    compiler: gcc-6
+    compiler: gcc-7
 
-## test gcc6 - mpi with threading backend ##
+## test gcc7 - mpi with threading backend ##
   - name: "linux, gcc, mpi, py"
     os: linux
     dist: bionic
@@ -84,10 +84,10 @@ matrix:
           - openmpi-bin
           - libopenmpi-dev
     env:
-      - MATRIX_EVAL="CC=gcc-6 && CXX=g++-6"
+      - MATRIX_EVAL="CC=gcc-7 && CXX=g++-7"
       - BUILD_NAME=mpi-linux-gcc-py
       - WITH_DISTRIBUTED=mpi WITH_PYTHON=true PY=3
-    compiler: gcc-6
+    compiler: gcc-7
 
 ## test clang4 - single node/rank with threading backend ##
   - name: "linux, clang, serial, py"
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index b00500ad76d94bd1f8d450bca04d3a95e5bfd6a4..2b3079412e41415b3bece9ffb991144b28727be1 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ enable_language(CXX)
 
 # Specify target archiecture.
 
-set(ARB_ARCH "" CACHE STRING "Target architecture for arbor libraries")
+set(ARB_ARCH "native" CACHE STRING "Target architecture for arbor libraries")
 
 # Perform explicit vectorization?