diff --git a/xCAT-test/unit/go_xcat_genesis_package_names.t b/xCAT-test/unit/go_xcat_genesis_package_names.t
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..844bc275f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xCAT-test/unit/go_xcat_genesis_package_names.t
@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env perl
+# go-xcat installs and uninstalls a fixed list of package names, and it keeps one list per
+# packaging format. The Genesis packages are named after the architecture, and the two formats
+# spell that architecture differently: the rpm is xCAT-genesis-scripts-ppc64, the deb is
+# xcat-genesis-scripts-ppc64el. A name that no repository publishes makes apt fail the whole
+# transaction, so one stale entry stops "go-xcat install" and "go-xcat uninstall" on that
+# architecture.
+#
+# The lists are built by go-xcat itself here, not read as text: the deb list exists only when
+# "type dpkg" succeeds, so a shell function decides which branch each run takes.
+use strict;
+use warnings;
+
+use File::Temp qw(tempdir);
+use FindBin;
+use Test::More;
+
+my $root    = "$FindBin::Bin/../..";
+my $go_xcat = "$root/xCAT-server/share/xcat/tools/go-xcat";
+BAIL_OUT("go-xcat not found at $go_xcat") unless -f $go_xcat;
+
+my $tmpdir = tempdir(CLEANUP => 1);
+my $driver = "$tmpdir/driver.sh";
+open(my $driver_fh, '>', $driver) or die "open $driver: $!";
+print {$driver_fh} <<'DRIVER';
+#!/bin/bash
+
+if [[ ${WANT_DPKG:-0} == 1 ]]
+then
+    dpkg() { :; }
+fi
+
+list_body=$(
+    awk '
+        /^GO_XCAT_INSTALL_LIST=\(/ { copy = 1 }
+        /^PATH=/ { exit }
+        copy { print }
+    ' "$GO_XCAT_SOURCE"
+)
+[[ -n "${list_body}" ]] || { echo "go-xcat package arrays not found" >&2 ; exit 3 ; }
+
+# A real dpkg on the build host would select the deb branch on every run.
+PATH=""
+eval "${list_body}"
+
+printf 'install %s\n' "${GO_XCAT_INSTALL_LIST[*]}"
+printf 'uninstall %s\n' "${GO_XCAT_UNINSTALL_LIST[*]}"
+DRIVER
+close($driver_fh) or die "close $driver: $!";
+
+# Run go-xcat's array definitions and return the two lists it built.
+sub package_lists {
+    my ($want_dpkg) = @_;
+    local %ENV = (%ENV, GO_XCAT_SOURCE => $go_xcat, WANT_DPKG => $want_dpkg);
+    open(my $out, '-|', 'bash', $driver) or die "run $driver: $!";
+    my %list;
+    while (my $line = <$out>) {
+        chomp $line;
+        my ($which, $packages) = split /\s+/, $line, 2;
+        $list{$which} = [ split /\s+/, ($packages // '') ];
+    }
+    close($out);
+    BAIL_OUT('go-xcat package arrays could not be evaluated')
+      unless $list{install} && $list{uninstall};
+    return \%list;
+}
+
+# Read the whole of a file.
+sub slurp {
+    my ($path) = @_;
+    open(my $fh, '<', $path) or die "read $path: $!";
+    local $/; my $text = <$fh>; close $fh;
+    return $text;
+}
+
+# The package names, sorted, that match a prefix.
+sub named {
+    my ($packages, $prefix) = @_;
+    my @found = sort grep { index($_, $prefix) == 0 } @{$packages};
+    return \@found;
+}
+
+my $rpm = package_lists(0);
+my $deb = package_lists(1);
+BAIL_OUT('the dpkg branch of go-xcat was not taken')
+  unless grep { $_ eq 'xcat-client' } @{ $deb->{install} };
+BAIL_OUT('the rpm branch of go-xcat was not taken')
+  unless grep { $_ eq 'xCAT-client' } @{ $rpm->{install} };
+
+# The deb names come from the packaging: one control file per Debian architecture names the
+# genesis-scripts package, and its Depends names the genesis-base package that carries the
+# Genesis tree for that same architecture.
+my @control = sort glob("$root/xCAT-genesis-scripts/debian/control-*");
+BAIL_OUT('no xCAT-genesis-scripts Debian control files') unless @control;
+my (@deb_scripts, @deb_base);
+for my $control (@control) {
+    my $text = slurp($control);
+    push @deb_scripts, ($text =~ /^Package:\s*(\S+)/mg);
+    push @deb_base, ($text =~ /^Depends:.*?(xcat-genesis-base-[a-z0-9]+)/mg);
+}
+@deb_scripts = sort @deb_scripts;
+@deb_base    = sort @deb_base;
+
+for my $which (qw(install uninstall)) {
+    is_deeply(named($deb->{$which}, 'xcat-genesis-scripts-'), \@deb_scripts,
+        "the deb $which list names the genesis scripts packages xCAT-genesis-scripts builds");
+    is_deeply(named($deb->{$which}, 'xcat-genesis-base-'), \@deb_base,
+        "the deb $which list names the genesis base packages those scripts depend on");
+}
+
+# The rpm names use the Genesis target architecture of the spec, which is not a Debian
+# architecture name.
+my %tarch = map { $_ => 1 } (slurp("$root/xCAT-genesis-builder/xCAT-genesis-base.spec")
+      =~ /^%define\s+tarch\s+(\S+)/mg);
+BAIL_OUT('no Genesis target architectures in xCAT-genesis-base.spec') unless %tarch;
+
+for my $which (qw(install uninstall)) {
+    for my $prefix (qw(xCAT-genesis-scripts- xCAT-genesis-base-)) {
+        my @wrong = grep { my $arch = substr($_, length $prefix); !$tarch{$arch} }
+          @{ named($rpm->{$which}, $prefix) };
+        is_deeply(\@wrong, [],
+            "the rpm $which list names only Genesis target architectures for $prefix*");
+    }
+}
+
+done_testing();