diff --git a/plugins/opencv/src/requirements.txt b/plugins/opencv/src/requirements.txt
index 896e8c343..05185c63f 100644
--- a/plugins/opencv/src/requirements.txt
+++ b/plugins/opencv/src/requirements.txt
@@ -1,9 +1,13 @@
 # plugin
 numpy>=1.16.2
-# pillow for anything not intel linux
-Pillow>=5.4.1; sys_platform != 'linux' or platform_machine != 'x86_64'
-pillow-simd; sys_platform == 'linux' and platform_machine == 'x86_64'
+
 imutils>=0.5.0
-# opencv-python is not available on armhf
+
 # locked to version because 4.8.0.76 is broken.
-opencv-python==4.8.0.74; sys_platform != 'linux' or platform_machine == 'x86_64' or platform_machine == 'aarch64'
+# todo: check newer versions.
+opencv-python==4.8.0.74
+
+# pillow-simd is available on x64 linux
+# pillow-simd confirmed not building with arm64 linux or apple silicon
+Pillow>=5.4.1; 'linux' not in sys_platform or platform_machine != 'x86_64'
+pillow-simd; 'linux' in sys_platform and platform_machine == 'x86_64'
diff --git a/plugins/openvino/src/requirements.txt b/plugins/openvino/src/requirements.txt
index 9a043c50e..93e32ce59 100644
--- a/plugins/openvino/src/requirements.txt
+++ b/plugins/openvino/src/requirements.txt
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@ openvino==2024.0.0
 
 # pillow-simd is available on x64 linux
 # pillow-simd confirmed not building with arm64 linux or apple silicon
-Pillow>=5.4.1; sys_platform != 'linux' or platform_machine != 'x86_64'
-pillow-simd; sys_platform == 'linux' and platform_machine == 'x86_64'
+Pillow>=5.4.1; 'linux' not in sys_platform or platform_machine != 'x86_64'
+pillow-simd; 'linux' in sys_platform and platform_machine == 'x86_64'
diff --git a/plugins/python-codecs/src/requirements.txt b/plugins/python-codecs/src/requirements.txt
index 00ba2aeaf..35484d9bb 100644
--- a/plugins/python-codecs/src/requirements.txt
+++ b/plugins/python-codecs/src/requirements.txt
@@ -5,5 +5,5 @@ av>=10.0.0
 
 # in case pyvips fails to load, use a pillow fallback.
 # pillow for anything not intel linux, pillow-simd is available on x64 linux
-Pillow>=5.4.1; sys_platform != 'linux' or platform_machine != 'x86_64'
-pillow-simd; sys_platform == 'linux' and platform_machine == 'x86_64'
+Pillow>=5.4.1; 'linux' not in sys_platform or platform_machine != 'x86_64'
+pillow-simd; 'linux' in sys_platform and platform_machine == 'x86_64'
diff --git a/plugins/tensorflow-lite/src/requirements.txt b/plugins/tensorflow-lite/src/requirements.txt
index 0700565a2..2a44d6bff 100644
--- a/plugins/tensorflow-lite/src/requirements.txt
+++ b/plugins/tensorflow-lite/src/requirements.txt
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 pycoral~=2.0
 tflite-runtime==2.5.0.post1
 
-# pillow for anything not intel linux, pillow-simd is available on x64 linux
-Pillow>=5.4.1; sys_platform != 'linux' or platform_machine != 'x86_64'
-pillow-simd; sys_platform == 'linux' and platform_machine == 'x86_64'
+# pillow-simd is available on x64 linux
+# pillow-simd confirmed not building with arm64 linux or apple silicon
+Pillow>=5.4.1; 'linux' not in sys_platform or platform_machine != 'x86_64'
+pillow-simd; 'linux' in sys_platform and platform_machine == 'x86_64'