diff --git a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/m4/package.py b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/m4/package.py
index b87bce66108..b14956e3ae2 100644
--- a/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/m4/package.py
+++ b/var/spack/repos/builtin/packages/m4/package.py
@@ -34,7 +34,8 @@ def configure_args(self):
         spec = self.spec
         args = ['--enable-c++']
 
-        if spec.satisfies('%clang') and not spec.satisfies('platform=darwin'):
+        if (spec.satisfies('%clang') or spec.satisfies('%arm')) and not \
+           spec.satisfies('platform=darwin'):
             args.append('CFLAGS=-rtlib=compiler-rt')
 
         if spec.satisfies('%intel'):