diff --git a/rootfs-builder/alpine/config.sh b/rootfs-builder/alpine/config.sh
index bc8cf43457..117669baa1 100644
--- a/rootfs-builder/alpine/config.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/alpine/config.sh
@@ -16,3 +16,9 @@ MIRROR=http://dl-5.alpinelinux.org/alpine
 # Mandatory Packages that must be installed
 #  - iptables: Need by Kata agent
 PACKAGES="iptables"
+
+# Init process must be one of {systemd,kata-agent}
+INIT_PROCESS=kata-agent
+# List of zero or more architectures to exclude from build,
+# as reported by  `uname -m`
+ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST=()
diff --git a/rootfs-builder/centos/config.sh b/rootfs-builder/centos/config.sh
index a354ea74d5..75f6cc1bd4 100644
--- a/rootfs-builder/centos/config.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/centos/config.sh
@@ -28,3 +28,9 @@ PACKAGES="iptables"
 # systemd: An init system that will start kata-agent if kata-agent
 #          itself is not configured as init process.
 [ "$AGENT_INIT" == "no" ] && PACKAGES+=" systemd" || true
+
+# Init process must be one of {systemd,kata-agent}
+INIT_PROCESS=systemd
+# List of zero or more architectures to exclude from build,
+# as reported by  `uname -m`
+ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST=()
diff --git a/rootfs-builder/clearlinux/config.sh b/rootfs-builder/clearlinux/config.sh
index e9c3a9fe58..5deab3783d 100644
--- a/rootfs-builder/clearlinux/config.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/clearlinux/config.sh
@@ -21,3 +21,9 @@ PACKAGES="iptables-bin libudev0-shim"
 # systemd: An init system that will start kata-agent if kata-agent
 #          itself is not configured as init process.
 [ "$AGENT_INIT" == "no" ] && PACKAGES+=" systemd" || true
+
+# Init process must be one of {systemd,kata-agent}
+INIT_PROCESS=systemd
+# List of zero or more architectures to exclude from build,
+# as reported by  `uname -m`
+ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST=(ppc64le)
diff --git a/rootfs-builder/debian/config.sh b/rootfs-builder/debian/config.sh
index 3fd64bbefc..698a128b2b 100644
--- a/rootfs-builder/debian/config.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/debian/config.sh
@@ -10,3 +10,9 @@ OS_NAME=${OS_NAME:-"stretch"}
 
 # NOTE: Re-using ubuntu rootfs configuration, see 'ubuntu' folder for full content.
 source $script_dir/ubuntu/$CONFIG_SH
+
+# Init process must be one of {systemd,kata-agent}
+INIT_PROCESS=systemd
+# List of zero or more architectures to exclude from build,
+# as reported by  `uname -m`
+ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST=()
diff --git a/rootfs-builder/euleros/config.sh b/rootfs-builder/euleros/config.sh
index 4b7af6acda..2fcf8a7357 100644
--- a/rootfs-builder/euleros/config.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/euleros/config.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,7 @@
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2018 Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 OS_NAME="EulerOS"
 
 OS_VERSION=${OS_VERSION:-2.2}
@@ -12,3 +16,9 @@ PACKAGES="iptables"
 # systemd: An init system that will start kata-agent if kata-agent
 #          itself is not configured as init process.
 [ "$AGENT_INIT" == "no" ] && PACKAGES+=" systemd" || true
+
+# Init process must be one of {systemd,kata-agent}
+INIT_PROCESS=systemd
+# List of zero or more architectures to exclude from build,
+# as reported by  `uname -m`
+ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST=()
diff --git a/rootfs-builder/fedora/config.sh b/rootfs-builder/fedora/config.sh
index a0ca15a318..6bb6bd5614 100644
--- a/rootfs-builder/fedora/config.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/fedora/config.sh
@@ -15,3 +15,7 @@ PACKAGES="iptables"
 # systemd: An init system that will start kata-agent if kata-agent
 #          itself is not configured as init process.
 [ "$AGENT_INIT" == "no" ] && PACKAGES+=" systemd" || true
+
+# Init process must be one of {systemd,kata-agent}
+INIT_PROCESS=systemd
+ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST=()
diff --git a/rootfs-builder/suse/config.sh b/rootfs-builder/suse/config.sh
index 594fc4d4ee..8f4352560e 100644
--- a/rootfs-builder/suse/config.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/suse/config.sh
@@ -20,9 +20,16 @@ REPO_TRANSPORT="https"
 # Can specify an alternative domain
 REPO_DOMAIN="download.opensuse.org"
 
+# Init process must be one of {systemd,kata-agent}
+INIT_PROCESS=systemd
+# List of zero or more architectures to exclude from build,
+# as reported by  `uname -m`
+ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST=()
+
+###############################################################################
+#
 # NOTE: you probably dont need to edit things below this
 #
-###############################################################################
 
 SUSE_URL_BASE="${REPO_TRANSPORT}://${REPO_DOMAIN}"
 SUSE_PATH_OSS="/distribution/${OS_DISTRO,,}/$OS_VERSION/repo/oss"
diff --git a/rootfs-builder/template/config_template.sh b/rootfs-builder/template/config_template.sh
index cf3157f4e9..b32bc7ada0 100644
--- a/rootfs-builder/template/config_template.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/template/config_template.sh
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+#
+# Copyright (c) 2018 Intel Corporation
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
 # This is a configuration file add extra variables to
 # be used by build_rootfs() from rootfs_lib.sh the variables will be
 # loaded just before call the function. For more information see the
@@ -6,3 +11,9 @@
 OS_VERSION=${OS_VERSION:-DEFAULT_VERSION}
 
 PACKAGES="systemd iptables udevlib.so"
+
+# Init process must be one of {systemd,kata-agent}
+INIT_PROCESS=systemd
+# List of zero or more architectures to exclude from build,
+# as reported by  `uname -m`
+ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST=()
diff --git a/rootfs-builder/ubuntu/config.sh b/rootfs-builder/ubuntu/config.sh
index d8bb95d1b8..ed8ef7c2b7 100644
--- a/rootfs-builder/ubuntu/config.sh
+++ b/rootfs-builder/ubuntu/config.sh
@@ -22,3 +22,9 @@ case $(arch) in
 	aarch64) ARCHITECTURE="arm64";;
 	(*) die "$(arch) not supported "
 esac
+
+# Init process must be one of {systemd,kata-agent}
+INIT_PROCESS=systemd
+# List of zero or more architectures to exclude from build,
+# as reported by  `uname -m`
+ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST=()
diff --git a/tests/test_config.sh b/tests/test_config.sh
index 1697714dac..d91cdeab85 100644
--- a/tests/test_config.sh
+++ b/tests/test_config.sh
@@ -3,15 +3,15 @@
 #
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
-distrosSystemd=(fedora centos ubuntu debian suse)
-distrosAgent=(alpine)
 
-if [ $MACHINE_TYPE != "ppc64le" ]; then
-	distrosSystemd+=(clearlinux)
+if [ -n "${CI:-}" ]; then
+	# "Not testing eurleros on Jenkins or Travis:
+	# (unreliable mirros, see: https://github.com/kata-containers/osbuilder/issues/182)
+	# (timeout, see: https://github.com/kata-containers/osbuilder/issues/46)"
+	skipWhenTestingAll=(euleros)
 fi
 
-# "Not testing eurleros on Travis: (timeout, see: https://github.com/kata-containers/osbuilder/issues/46)"
-if [ -z "${TRAVIS:-}" ]; then
-	distrosSystemd+=(euleros)
+if [ -n "${TRAVIS:-}" ]; then
+	skipWhenTestingAll+=()
 fi
 
diff --git a/tests/test_images.sh b/tests/test_images.sh
index 3af12b9fb8..a0a342a218 100755
--- a/tests/test_images.sh
+++ b/tests/test_images.sh
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ readonly sysconfig_docker_config_file="/etc/sysconfig/docker"
 readonly tests_repo="github.com/kata-containers/tests"
 readonly tests_repo_dir="${script_dir}/../../tests"
 readonly mgr="${tests_repo_dir}/cmd/kata-manager/kata-manager.sh"
+readonly test_config=${script_dir}/test_config.sh
+readonly rootfs_builder=${script_dir}/../rootfs-builder/rootfs.sh
 readonly RUNTIME=${RUNTIME:-kata-runtime}
 readonly MACHINE_TYPE=`uname -m`
 
@@ -29,9 +31,8 @@ readonly docker_build_runtime="runc"
 
 build_images=1
 build_initrds=1
-
-source ${script_dir}/test_config.sh
-
+typeset -a distrosSystemd distrosAgent
+source ${test_config}
 # Hashes used to keep track of image sizes.
 # - Key: name of distro.
 # - Value: colon-separated roots and image sizes ("${rootfs_size}:${image_size}").
@@ -53,8 +54,12 @@ Commands:
 help     : Show usage.
 
 
-When <distro> is specified, tests are run only for the specified <distro> distribution.
-Otherwise, tests are be run on all distros.
+When <distro> is specified, tests are run only for the specified <distro>.
+Otherwise, tests are run on all distros.
+
+$(basename ${test_config}) includes a list of distros to exclude from testing,
+depending on the detected test environment. However, when a <distro> is specified,
+distro exclusion based on $(basename ${test_config}) is not enforced.
 EOT
 }
 
@@ -181,6 +186,14 @@ info()
 	echo -e "INFO: $s\n" >&2
 }
 
+debug()
+{
+	[ -z "${TEST_DEBUG:-}" ] && return
+	s="$*"
+	echo -e "DBG: $s" >&2
+}
+
+
 set_runtime()
 {
 	local name="$1"
@@ -222,6 +235,57 @@ setup()
 	set_runtime "${docker_build_runtime}"
 }
 
+# Fetches the distros test configuration from the distro-specific config.sh file.
+# $1 : only fetch configuration for the distro with name $1. When not specified,
+# fetch configuration for all distros.
+get_distros_config()
+{
+	local distro="$1"
+	local distrosList
+	local -A distroCfg=(\
+		[INIT_PROCESS]=\
+		[ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST]=\
+		)
+
+	if [ -n "$distro" ]; then
+		distrosList=("$distro")
+		# When specifying a single distro name, skip does not apply
+		skipWhenTestingAll=()
+	else
+		distrosList=($(make list-distros))
+	fi
+
+	for d in ${distrosList[@]}; do
+		debug "Getting config for distro $d"
+		distroPattern="\<${d}\>"
+		if [[ "${skipWhenTestingAll[@]}" =~ $distroPattern ]]; then
+			info "Skipping distro $d as specified by $(basename ${test_config})"
+			continue
+		fi
+
+		tmpfile=$(mktemp /tmp/osbuilder-$d-config.XXX)
+		${rootfs_builder} -t $d  > $tmpfile
+		# Get value of all keys in distroCfg
+		for k in ${!distroCfg[@]}; do
+			distroCfg[$k]="$(awk -v cfgKey=$k 'BEGIN{FS=":\t+"}{if ($1 == cfgKey) print $2}' $tmpfile)"
+			debug "distroCfg[$k]=${distroCfg[$k]}"
+		done
+		rm -f $tmpfile
+
+		machinePattern="\<${MACHINE_TYPE}\>"
+		if [[ "${distroCfg[ARCH_EXCLUDE_LIST]}" =~ $machinePattern ]]; then
+			info "Skipping distro $d on architecture $MACHINE_TYPE"
+			continue
+		fi
+
+		case "${distroCfg[INIT_PROCESS]}" in
+			systemd)    distrosSystemd+=($d) ;;
+			kata-agent) distrosAgent+=($d) ;;
+			*)			die "Invalid init process specified for distro $d: \"${distroCfg[INIT_PROCESS]}\"" ;;
+		esac
+	done
+}
+
 create_container()
 {
 	out=$(mktemp)
@@ -342,6 +406,7 @@ get_rootfs_size() {
 test_distros()
 {
 	local distro="$1"
+	get_distros_config "$distro"
 	local separator="~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~\n"
 
 	echo -e "$separator"