diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yml b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
index 9f20ee93f..b0be4a542 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yml
@@ -34,8 +34,6 @@ jobs:
             arch: x86_64
           - os: ubuntu-24.04-arm
             arch: aarch64
-          - os: ubuntu-24.04
-            arch: armv7l
           - os: ubuntu-24.04
             arch: x86_64
           - os: windows-latest
@@ -47,11 +45,6 @@ jobs:
       - uses: actions/setup-python@v6
         with:
           python-version: "3.14"
-      - name: Set up QEMU
-        if: matrix.arch == 'armv7l'
-        uses: docker/setup-qemu-action@v3
-        with:
-          platforms: arm
       - name: Set Minimum MacOS Target
         if: runner.os == 'macOS'
         run: |
@@ -73,7 +66,6 @@ jobs:
           CIBW_BUILD: "cp311* cp314t*"
           CIBW_TEST_COMMAND: mv {project}/av {project}/av.disabled && python -m pytest {package}/tests && mv {project}/av.disabled {project}/av
           CIBW_TEST_REQUIRES: pytest numpy
-          CIBW_TEST_SKIP: "*_armv7l"
         run: |
           pip install cibuildwheel delvewheel
           cibuildwheel --output-dir dist
@@ -84,9 +76,42 @@ jobs:
           name: dist-${{ matrix.os }}-${{ matrix.arch }}
           path: dist/
 
+  # armv7l (32-bit ARM) is cross-compiled with zig on a native x86_64 runner
+  # instead of emulated with QEMU. cibuildwheel cannot cross-compile, so this
+  # target uses its own driver (scripts/build-armv7l-cross.sh).
+  package-wheel-armv7l:
+    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
+    steps:
+      - uses: actions/checkout@v6
+      - name: Set up host Python 3.11
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v6
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.11"
+      - name: Set up host Python 3.14t
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v6
+        with:
+          python-version: "3.14t"
+      - name: Install build tooling
+        run: |
+          for py in python3.11 python3.14t; do
+            $py -m pip install -U "cython>=3.1.0,<4" "setuptools>=77.0" wheel
+          done
+          python3.11 -m pip install -U ziglang auditwheel
+      - name: Cross-compile armv7l wheels with zig
+        env:
+          HOST_PY311: python3.11
+          HOST_PY314T: python3.14t
+          TOOLS_PY: python3.11
+        run: bash scripts/build-armv7l-cross.sh
+      - name: Upload wheels
+        uses: actions/upload-artifact@v6
+        with:
+          name: dist-armv7l
+          path: dist/
+
   publish:
     runs-on: ubuntu-latest
-    needs: [package-source, package-wheel]
+    needs: [package-source, package-wheel, package-wheel-armv7l]
     steps:
       - uses: actions/checkout@v6
       - uses: actions/download-artifact@v7
diff --git a/scripts/auditwheel-cross.py b/scripts/auditwheel-cross.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..13c529dc7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/auditwheel-cross.py
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+"""Run ``auditwheel`` for a foreign architecture/libc from an x86_64 host.
+
+auditwheel builds its ``--plat`` choices from the host's detected architecture
+and libc, so on an x86_64 runner it rejects e.g. ``manylinux_2_31_armv7l``. The
+repair logic itself re-derives the architecture and libc from the wheel and works
+cross-arch, so we only need to override the host detection used to build the CLI
+choice list.
+
+Usage::
+
+    python auditwheel-cross.py <arch> <glibc|musl> <auditwheel args...>
+"""
+
+import sys
+
+from auditwheel.architecture import Architecture
+from auditwheel.libc import Libc
+
+_arch = Architecture(sys.argv[1])
+_libc = {"glibc": Libc.GLIBC, "musl": Libc.MUSL}[sys.argv[2]]
+del sys.argv[1:3]
+
+Architecture.detect = staticmethod(lambda *, bits=None: _arch)
+Libc.detect = staticmethod(lambda: _libc)
+
+from auditwheel.main import main  # noqa: E402  (import after patching detection)
+
+sys.exit(main())
diff --git a/scripts/build-armv7l-cross.sh b/scripts/build-armv7l-cross.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..69eb3bfea
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/build-armv7l-cross.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,130 @@
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
+#
+# Cross-compile PyAV's armv7l (32-bit ARM) wheels with zig on an x86_64 host,
+# without QEMU. Only PyAV's Cython->C extensions are compiled; FFmpeg is fetched
+# prebuilt for armv7l. zig is the cross compiler, and CPython's cross-build env
+# vars (_PYTHON_HOST_PLATFORM / _PYTHON_SYSCONFIGDATA_NAME) make sysconfig report
+# armv7l without running any armv7l code. The target Python trees + system libs
+# are copied out of the manylinux armv7l image with `docker cp` (no execution).
+#
+# Builds two manylinux (glibc) wheels: cp311-abi3 (covers 3.11-3.13) and cp314t.
+# musllinux armv7l is skipped: the musl FFmpeg needs system libs (libdrm,
+# libxcb*, libbz2) the musllinux image doesn't ship for auditwheel to bundle.
+
+set -euo pipefail
+
+here="$(cd "$(dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}")" && pwd)"
+root="$(cd "$here/.." && pwd)"
+cd "$root"
+
+# Host interpreters that drive each build (must match the wheel's Python: 3.11
+# emits cp311-abi3, 3.14t emits cp314t). zig/auditwheel run from TOOLS_PY.
+HOST_PY311="${HOST_PY311:-python3.11}"
+HOST_PY314T="${HOST_PY314T:-python3.14t}"
+TOOLS_PY="${TOOLS_PY:-python3}"
+
+DIST_DIR="${DIST_DIR:-$root/dist}"
+WORK_DIR="${WORK_DIR:-$root/build/armv7l-cross}"
+IMAGE="quay.io/pypa/manylinux_2_31_armv7l"
+TRIPLE="arm-linux-gnueabihf.2.31"  # pin glibc to the manylinux_2_31 policy
+PLAT="manylinux_2_31_armv7l"
+FFMPEG_CONFIG="scripts/ffmpeg-latest.json"
+
+PY_DIR="$WORK_DIR/py"
+BIN_DIR="$WORK_DIR/bin"
+mkdir -p "$DIST_DIR" "$BIN_DIR" "$PY_DIR"
+
+# --- zig compiler wrappers ------------------------------------------------
+# setuptools invokes $CC / $LDSHARED as plain commands. Resolve the zig binary
+# once and call it directly (not "python -m ziglang"): the build sets PYTHONPATH
+# to the target stdlib, which would crash a per-compile Python. The wrappers also
+# drop a few gcc-only flags clang (zig) rejects.
+ZIG_BIN="$("$TOOLS_PY" -c 'import os, ziglang; print(os.path.join(os.path.dirname(ziglang.__file__), "zig"))')"
+
+write_cc() {
+    cat >"$1" <<EOF
+#! /usr/bin/env bash
+args=()
+for a in "\$@"; do
+    case "\$a" in
+        -fno-semantic-interposition|-fstack-clash-protection|-fcf-protection*|-mno-cet|-march=native|-mtune=native|--param=*|-fipa-pta) ;;
+        *) args+=("\$a") ;;
+    esac
+done
+exec "$ZIG_BIN" $2 -target "$TRIPLE" "\${args[@]}"
+EOF
+    chmod +x "$1"
+}
+write_cc "$BIN_DIR/zig-cc" cc
+write_cc "$BIN_DIR/zig-cxx" c++
+printf '#! /usr/bin/env bash\nexec "%s" ar "$@"\n' "$ZIG_BIN" >"$BIN_DIR/zig-ar"
+chmod +x "$BIN_DIR/zig-ar"
+
+# --- copy the target Python trees + system libs out of the image ----------
+extract_image() {
+    if [[ -d "$PY_DIR/_internal" ]]; then
+        return  # already extracted
+    fi
+    echo "Pulling $IMAGE"
+    docker pull --platform linux/arm/v7 "$IMAGE"
+    local cid
+    cid="$(docker create --platform linux/arm/v7 "$IMAGE")"
+    # /opt/python/<tag> are symlinks into /opt/_internal/<tree>; copy both. Also
+    # grab the armhf system libs (libxcb, ...) FFmpeg needs so auditwheel can
+    # bundle them. docker cp reads the filesystem; it runs no armv7l code.
+    docker cp "$cid:/opt/python" "$PY_DIR"
+    docker cp "$cid:/opt/_internal" "$PY_DIR"
+    docker cp "$cid:/usr/lib/arm-linux-gnueabihf" "$PY_DIR/syslib"
+    docker rm -f "$cid" >/dev/null
+}
+
+# --- build + repair one wheel ---------------------------------------------
+# args: <host_py> <python-tag-glob>
+build_one() {
+    local host_py="$1" py_glob="$2"
+
+    # Resolve /opt/python/<tag> symlink to its real tree under /opt/_internal.
+    local link
+    link="$(find "$PY_DIR/python" -maxdepth 1 -name "$py_glob" | head -1)"
+    [[ -n "$link" ]] || { echo "no python matching '$py_glob':" >&2; ls "$PY_DIR/python" >&2; exit 1; }
+    local pytree="$PY_DIR/_internal/$(basename "$(readlink "$link")")"
+
+    local inc=( "$pytree"/include/python3.* )
+    local scd=( "$pytree"/lib/python3.*/_sysconfigdata_*.py )
+    echo "=== building for $(basename "$pytree") (host $host_py) ==="
+
+    # FFmpeg's pkg-config files bake in prefix=/tmp/vendor, so extract there.
+    rm -rf /tmp/vendor
+    PYAV_VENDOR_PLATFORM=manylinux-armv7l "$TOOLS_PY" scripts/fetch-vendor.py \
+        --config-file "$FFMPEG_CONFIG" /tmp/vendor
+
+    local raw="$WORK_DIR/raw/$(basename "$pytree")"
+    rm -rf "$raw"; mkdir -p "$raw"
+
+    # The _PYTHON_* vars make sysconfig report armv7l; zig does the compiling.
+    env \
+        CC="$BIN_DIR/zig-cc" CXX="$BIN_DIR/zig-cxx" AR="$BIN_DIR/zig-ar" \
+        LDSHARED="$BIN_DIR/zig-cc -shared" \
+        _PYTHON_HOST_PLATFORM=linux-armv7l \
+        _PYTHON_SYSCONFIGDATA_NAME="$(basename "${scd[0]}" .py)" \
+        PYTHONPATH="$(dirname "${scd[0]}")" \
+        CFLAGS="-I${inc[0]} -Wno-error=incompatible-pointer-types" \
+        PKG_CONFIG_PATH=/tmp/vendor/lib/pkgconfig \
+        LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/tmp/vendor/lib \
+        "$host_py" -m pip wheel . --no-build-isolation --no-deps -w "$raw"
+
+    # Bundle FFmpeg + its armhf system deps and stamp the platform tag. The shim
+    # lets auditwheel accept the armv7l --plat from an x86_64 host; --ldpaths
+    # points it at the target's libs instead of the host search path.
+    "$TOOLS_PY" scripts/auditwheel-cross.py armv7l glibc repair \
+        --ldpaths "/tmp/vendor/lib:$PY_DIR/syslib" \
+        --plat "$PLAT" -w "$DIST_DIR" "$raw"/*.whl
+}
+
+extract_image
+build_one "$HOST_PY311" "cp311-cp311"
+build_one "$HOST_PY314T" "cp314*-cp314t"
+
+echo
+echo "Built armv7l wheels:"
+ls -1 "$DIST_DIR"/*armv7l*.whl
diff --git a/scripts/fetch-vendor.py b/scripts/fetch-vendor.py
index 7161a0023..b046c1884 100644
--- a/scripts/fetch-vendor.py
+++ b/scripts/fetch-vendor.py
@@ -8,6 +8,12 @@
 
 
 def get_platform():
+    # Allow forcing the target platform so we can fetch e.g. an armv7l build
+    # while running on an x86_64 host (cross-compilation).
+    forced = os.environ.get("PYAV_VENDOR_PLATFORM")
+    if forced:
+        return forced
+
     system = platform.system()
     machine = platform.machine().lower()
     is_arm64 = machine in {"arm64", "aarch64"}