diff --git a/lib/spack/spack/compilers/pgi.py b/lib/spack/spack/compilers/pgi.py
index ed8bad1a9ba..cfc3d8ea573 100644
--- a/lib/spack/spack/compilers/pgi.py
+++ b/lib/spack/spack/compilers/pgi.py
@@ -77,4 +77,4 @@ def default_version(cls, comp):
         on PowerPC.
         """
         return get_compiler_version(
-            comp, '-V', r'pg[^ ]* ([0-9.-]+) [^ ]+ target on ')
+            comp, '-V', r'pg[^ ]* ([0-9.]+)-[0-9]+ [^ ]+ target on ')