diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libspatialite/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libspatialite/package.py
index 0244ac474b2..47a4e54cb85 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libspatialite/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/libspatialite/package.py
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class Libspatialite(AutotoolsPackage):
     depends_on("geos@:3.9", when="@:5.0.0")
     depends_on("iconv")
     depends_on("librttopo", when="@5.0.1:")
-    depends_on("libxml2")
+    depends_on("libxml2+http")
     depends_on("minizip", when="@5.0.0:")
     depends_on("proj")
     depends_on("proj@:5", when="@:4")