diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/oci/opener.py b/lib/spack/spack/oci/opener.py
index 2f9e83f5be1..76e346b9c85 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/oci/opener.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/oci/opener.py
@@ -397,6 +397,7 @@ def create_opener():
     """Create an opener that can handle OCI authentication."""
     opener = urllib.request.OpenerDirector()
     for handler in [
+        urllib.request.ProxyHandler(),
         urllib.request.UnknownHandler(),
         urllib.request.HTTPSHandler(context=spack.util.web.ssl_create_default_context()),
         spack.util.web.SpackHTTPDefaultErrorHandler(),