diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/trilinos/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/trilinos/package.py
index ec16906cc13..afab660794e 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/trilinos/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/trilinos/package.py
@@ -440,7 +440,8 @@ def flag_handler(self, name, flags):
         if self.spec.satisfies('%cce'):
             if name == 'ldflags':
                 flags.append('-fuse-ld=gold')
-        return (None, None, flags)
+            return (None, None, flags)
+        return (flags, None, None)
 
     def url_for_version(self, version):
         url = "https://github.com/trilinos/Trilinos/archive/trilinos-release-{0}.tar.gz"