diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/catalyst/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/catalyst/package.py
index 8153556ffda..6c62aa0039f 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/catalyst/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/catalyst/package.py
@@ -225,6 +225,11 @@ def nvariant_bool(feature):
         else:
             cmake_args.append('-DPARAVIEW_ENABLE_PYTHON:BOOL=OFF')
 
+        arch = spec.architecture
+        if(arch.platform == 'linux' and arch.target == 'aarch64'):
+            cmake_args.append('-DCMAKE_CXX_FLAGS=-DPNG_ARM_NEON_OPT=0')
+            cmake_args.append('-DCMAKE_C_FLAGS=-DPNG_ARM_NEON_OPT=0')
+
         return cmake_args
 
     def cmake(self, spec, prefix):