diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 21242bf6..5f1388f2 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -129,10 +129,15 @@ To add a new service (see the [backend v4](./services/backendv4/) for an extensi
 3. create the `docker-compose.yaml` file with the required dependencies (if any)
 4. eventually, include any service in (3) which is specific to the service and not shared across the global setup
 5. eventually, add the condition on the backend version (e.g. [here](./services/frontend/docker-compose.yaml#L14))
-6. eventually, create a `config` folder if it requires configuration
-7. eventually, add a `README.md` file in the service
-8. include the reference to (3) to the global [docker compose include list](docker-compose.yaml#L2)
-9. eventually, update the main [README.md](README.md)
+6. eventually, add the platform field, as described [here](#supported-os-architectures)
+7. eventually, create a `config` folder if it requires configuration
+8. eventually, add a `README.md` file in the service
+9. include the reference to (3) to the global [docker-compose include list](docker-compose.yaml#L2)
+10. eventually, update the main [README.md](README.md)
+
+## Supported OS architectures
+
+Since some images are not built with multi-arch, in particular the SciCat ones, make sure to specify the platform of the service in the docker-compose, when needed, to avoid possible issues when running `docker compose up` on different platforms, for example on MAC with arm64 architecture. See for example the [backendv4 docker-compose](./services/backendv4/docker-compose.yaml#L6)
 
 ## General use of SciCat
 
diff --git a/services/archivemock/docker-compose.yaml b/services/archivemock/docker-compose.yaml
index 1a30fd37..dcd82677 100644
--- a/services/archivemock/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/services/archivemock/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 services:
   archivemock:
+    platform: linux/amd64
     image: ghcr.io/scicatproject/archive-mock:v1.0.0
     depends_on:
       rabbitmq:
diff --git a/services/backendv3/docker-compose.yaml b/services/backendv3/docker-compose.yaml
index d730075f..2cabce22 100644
--- a/services/backendv3/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/services/backendv3/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ include:
 
 services:
   backend:
+    platform: linux/amd64
     image: ghcr.io/scicatproject/backend:latest
     depends_on:
       mongodb:
diff --git a/services/backendv4/docker-compose.yaml b/services/backendv4/docker-compose.yaml
index 8c0f00f9..37f7e1d2 100644
--- a/services/backendv4/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/services/backendv4/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ include:
 
 services:
   backend:
+    platform: linux/amd64
     image: ghcr.io/scicatproject/backend-next:v4.5.0
     depends_on:
       mongodb:
diff --git a/services/frontend/docker-compose.yaml b/services/frontend/docker-compose.yaml
index 5f6bf285..ea5f7ae2 100644
--- a/services/frontend/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/services/frontend/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 services:
   frontend:
+    platform: linux/amd64
     image: ghcr.io/scicatproject/frontend:v4.4.1
     depends_on:
       backend:
diff --git a/services/jupyter/docker-compose.yaml b/services/jupyter/docker-compose.yaml
index 10e9b1c6..bb379415 100644
--- a/services/jupyter/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/services/jupyter/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 services:
   jupyter:
+    platform: linux/amd64
     image: quay.io/jupyter/base-notebook:x86_64-notebook-7.1.2
     depends_on:
       backend:
diff --git a/services/searchapi/docker-compose.yaml b/services/searchapi/docker-compose.yaml
index d1478c88..50cc3270 100644
--- a/services/searchapi/docker-compose.yaml
+++ b/services/searchapi/docker-compose.yaml
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 services:
   searchapi:
+    platform: linux/amd64
     image: ghcr.io/scicatproject/panosc-search-api:latest
     depends_on:
       - backend