diff --git a/azurelinuxagent/common/event.py b/azurelinuxagent/common/event.py
index 95abf09ed..514c727ff 100644
--- a/azurelinuxagent/common/event.py
+++ b/azurelinuxagent/common/event.py
@@ -366,10 +366,14 @@ def __init__(self):
 
         # Parameters from OS
         osutil = get_osutil()
+        keyword_name = {
+            "CpuArchitecture": osutil.get_vm_arch()
+        }
         self._common_parameters.append(TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.OSVersion, EventLogger._get_os_version()))
         self._common_parameters.append(TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.ExecutionMode, AGENT_EXECUTION_MODE))
         self._common_parameters.append(TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.RAM, int(EventLogger._get_ram(osutil))))
         self._common_parameters.append(TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.Processors, int(EventLogger._get_processors(osutil))))
+        self._common_parameters.append(TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.KeywordName, json.dumps(keyword_name)))
 
         # Parameters from goal state
         self._common_parameters.append(TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.TenantName, "TenantName_UNINITIALIZED"))
@@ -597,8 +601,7 @@ def add_common_event_parameters(self, event, event_timestamp):
                          TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.OpcodeName, event_timestamp.strftime(logger.Logger.LogTimeFormatInUTC)),
                          TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.EventTid, threading.current_thread().ident),
                          TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.EventPid, os.getpid()),
-                         TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.TaskName, threading.current_thread().getName()),
-                         TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.KeywordName, '')]
+                         TelemetryEventParam(CommonTelemetryEventSchema.TaskName, threading.current_thread().getName())]
 
         if event.eventId == TELEMETRY_EVENT_EVENT_ID and event.providerId == TELEMETRY_EVENT_PROVIDER_ID:
             # Currently only the GuestAgentExtensionEvents has these columns, the other tables dont have them so skipping
diff --git a/azurelinuxagent/common/osutil/default.py b/azurelinuxagent/common/osutil/default.py
index 6430f83ec..69e20bea7 100644
--- a/azurelinuxagent/common/osutil/default.py
+++ b/azurelinuxagent/common/osutil/default.py
@@ -149,6 +149,14 @@ def get_systemd_unit_file_install_path():
     def get_agent_bin_path():
         return "/usr/sbin"
 
+    @staticmethod
+    def get_vm_arch():
+        try:
+            return platform.machine()
+        except Exception as e:
+            logger.warn("Unable to determine cpu architecture: {0}", ustr(e))
+            return "unknown"
+
     def get_firewall_dropped_packets(self, dst_ip=None):
         # If a previous attempt failed, do not retry
         global _enable_firewall  # pylint: disable=W0603
diff --git a/azurelinuxagent/ga/update.py b/azurelinuxagent/ga/update.py
index cd37a32ee..147402709 100644
--- a/azurelinuxagent/ga/update.py
+++ b/azurelinuxagent/ga/update.py
@@ -315,10 +315,14 @@ def run(self, debug=False):
             logger.info("OS: {0} {1}", DISTRO_NAME, DISTRO_VERSION)
             logger.info("Python: {0}.{1}.{2}", PY_VERSION_MAJOR, PY_VERSION_MINOR, PY_VERSION_MICRO)
 
+            vm_arch = self.osutil.get_vm_arch()
+            logger.info("CPU Arch: {0}", vm_arch)
+
             os_info_msg = u"Distro: {dist_name}-{dist_ver}; "\
                 u"OSUtil: {util_name}; "\
                 u"AgentService: {service_name}; "\
                 u"Python: {py_major}.{py_minor}.{py_micro}; "\
+                u"Arch: {vm_arch}; "\
                 u"systemd: {systemd}; "\
                 u"LISDrivers: {lis_ver}; "\
                 u"logrotate: {has_logrotate};".format(
@@ -326,7 +330,7 @@ def run(self, debug=False):
                     util_name=type(self.osutil).__name__,
                     service_name=self.osutil.service_name,
                     py_major=PY_VERSION_MAJOR, py_minor=PY_VERSION_MINOR,
-                    py_micro=PY_VERSION_MICRO, systemd=systemd.is_systemd(),
+                    py_micro=PY_VERSION_MICRO, vm_arch=vm_arch, systemd=systemd.is_systemd(),
                     lis_ver=get_lis_version(), has_logrotate=has_logrotate()
                 )
             logger.info(os_info_msg)
@@ -1013,13 +1017,10 @@ def _send_heartbeat_telemetry(self, protocol):
         if datetime.utcnow() >= (self._last_telemetry_heartbeat + UpdateHandler.TELEMETRY_HEARTBEAT_PERIOD):
             dropped_packets = self.osutil.get_firewall_dropped_packets(protocol.get_endpoint())
             auto_update_enabled = 1 if conf.get_autoupdate_enabled() else 0
-            # Include vm architecture in the heartbeat message because the kusto table does not have
-            # a separate column for it.
-            vmarch = self._get_vm_arch()
 
-            telemetry_msg = "{0};{1};{2};{3};{4};{5}".format(self._heartbeat_counter, self._heartbeat_id, dropped_packets,
+            telemetry_msg = "{0};{1};{2};{3};{4}".format(self._heartbeat_counter, self._heartbeat_id, dropped_packets,
                                                          self._heartbeat_update_goal_state_error_count,
-                                                         auto_update_enabled, vmarch)
+                                                         auto_update_enabled)
             debug_log_msg = "[DEBUG HeartbeatCounter: {0};HeartbeatId: {1};DroppedPackets: {2};" \
                             "UpdateGSErrors: {3};AutoUpdate: {4}]".format(self._heartbeat_counter,
                                                                           self._heartbeat_id, dropped_packets,
diff --git a/tests/common/test_event.py b/tests/common/test_event.py
index 28f2e3860..435ac2e80 100644
--- a/tests/common/test_event.py
+++ b/tests/common/test_event.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@
 
 import json
 import os
+import platform
 import re
 import shutil
 import threading
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ def setUp(self):
             CommonTelemetryEventSchema.EventTid: threading.current_thread().ident,
             CommonTelemetryEventSchema.EventPid: os.getpid(),
             CommonTelemetryEventSchema.TaskName: threading.current_thread().getName(),
-            CommonTelemetryEventSchema.KeywordName: '',
+            CommonTelemetryEventSchema.KeywordName: json.dumps({"CpuArchitecture": platform.machine()}),
             # common parameters computed from the OS platform
             CommonTelemetryEventSchema.OSVersion: EventLoggerTools.get_expected_os_version(),
             CommonTelemetryEventSchema.ExecutionMode: AGENT_EXECUTION_MODE,
diff --git a/tests/ga/test_send_telemetry_events.py b/tests/ga/test_send_telemetry_events.py
index c9e04a38c..a9c87dde9 100644
--- a/tests/ga/test_send_telemetry_events.py
+++ b/tests/ga/test_send_telemetry_events.py
@@ -368,13 +368,13 @@ def test_it_should_enqueue_and_send_events_properly(self, mock_lib_dir, *_):
                              '<Param Name="EventTid" Value="{4}" T="mt:uint64" />' \
                              '<Param Name="EventPid" Value="{5}" T="mt:uint64" />' \
                              '<Param Name="TaskName" Value="{6}" T="mt:wstr" />' \
-                             '<Param Name="KeywordName" Value="" T="mt:wstr" />' \
                              '<Param Name="ExtensionType" Value="json" T="mt:wstr" />' \
                              '<Param Name="IsInternal" Value="False" T="mt:bool" />' \
                              '<Param Name="OSVersion" Value="{7}" T="mt:wstr" />' \
                              '<Param Name="ExecutionMode" Value="IAAS" T="mt:wstr" />' \
                              '<Param Name="RAM" Value="{8}" T="mt:uint64" />' \
                              '<Param Name="Processors" Value="{9}" T="mt:uint64" />' \
+                             '<Param Name="KeywordName" Value=\'{10}\' T="mt:wstr" />' \
                              '<Param Name="TenantName" Value="db00a7755a5e4e8a8fe4b19bc3b330c3" T="mt:wstr" />' \
                              '<Param Name="RoleName" Value="MachineRole" T="mt:wstr" />' \
                              '<Param Name="RoleInstanceName" Value="b61f93d0-e1ed-40b2-b067-22c243233448.MachineRole_IN_0" T="mt:wstr" />' \
@@ -385,7 +385,7 @@ def test_it_should_enqueue_and_send_events_properly(self, mock_lib_dir, *_):
                              '<Param Name="ImageOrigin" Value="2468" T="mt:uint64" />' \
                              ']]></Event>'.format(AGENT_VERSION, TestSendTelemetryEventsHandler._TEST_EVENT_OPERATION, CURRENT_AGENT, test_opcodename, test_eventtid,
                                                   test_eventpid, test_taskname, osversion, int(osutil.get_total_mem()),
-                                                  osutil.get_processor_cores()).encode('utf-8')
+                                                  osutil.get_processor_cores(), json.dumps({"CpuArchitecture": platform.machine()})).encode('utf-8')
 
             self.assertIn(sample_message, collected_event)